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TO THE LAin>LOEDS OF IRELAm
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C^ Attijrt %MtW&nte.!
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« If England , with her proper power at home . Cannot defend her o wa dooc from the dog , Let us be worried ; and our nation lose . The naine of hardihood and polity . " 8 HAKSPE 1 KS—HSK £ T Y . Mr Loeds aud Gbhxlxxei , —Bemoved from the busy haunt * of na ; avay ttam . the bustle of the Vorid ; fee * from Btattn , fasitad , or ill -vUl towstd * my living thing : and prompted by a siaoare love to serve all , without doing injustice to any , I aanmetbe talk o ( address a sertea of kttea to j ^ , which I hope to perfect without the tateodw ^ ion of ptntical euaUuvomy . In troth * my Lord * and Gentle-Basa , it is sow fell ttaw that ; tbexamdaaatoC U » many
by lrhidi the desfcatttre gain of the few bat been t ^ d , should be laid aside , for the benefit of alL My Lords a * 4 GestteeMn , removed , as yen are , from the scene of actkm ia -which I hare taken a conspi eum part , tad for which I am Una compelled to address you from a felon ' s prison , mayhap your minds may zeqvfra a little preparation , before you direst youiseivea , aa I bare done , of all prejudice and \ mkiiKDy feeling . Wit * Oat view , I ahatt not go
cverany of the " whya" and the •?¦ wherefores *' 1 am here ; bet , being very extensively acquainted with yoa , and very well known to raaay of yonz order , I hare only to appeal to the whole of life for reasons why I should sot be here , as far aa yoa can judge . Let me , then , remind yoa , that daring the whole of life I hare sever Wen party in suit or action ; thai I hare neTer been barged with , inspected , or guilty of one single mean , low , dishonourable , or tmgentlema&like act
My Lords and Genttesien , I took a prominent and a more Tiolent part , ia 1821 , against what I considered tagoatice in Ireland , than I have taken against -what I consider ii ^ uttoe in T * T » gW » " * for the tea last yean from fhat period . In 1821 I was not prosecuted , although I was moat unjustly persecuted . I then "wroteapamphlftt in which i ascribed erery actof Tiolenee done by the people to the injustice of landlords , parsons , saafistzates , grand jvrora , and police . In
that pamphlet I implored of tke landlord * and other partiet to reform the several abnset of their respeetiTe orders , before the people should be impressed with the hopelessness of justice eomi » g from the aristocracy . I was then denounced , driven from society , and braaded as a rebel ; feot , my Lord * asd Gentle mem , the legislature has since passed a separate act , foi ths purpose of correcting the very abases of which I complained as existing amoag those ¦ eversl orders .
I complained of sub-Jetting at a great grievance , as regards landlord and tenant ; and of maay other frieTsnces also . The legislature passed a sob-letting « ct merely nibbling- at the abuses of the system , bat stopped short of interference just where it afeould hare ¦ eomme&ced . I e&mplained of tfce individual , ministerial and judicial sets of magistrates ; and the legislature justified -my complaint by the-enactment of the Petty Session « Bill , by which magistrates are compelled t # meet together , and in opes , -court
I complained of the unequal pressure -of the tithe system , asd tfee exemption of grass land from any share of the burden , and I also complained « f the whole -system ; and that I was justified in -complaining , U manifest by the bill of Mr . Goulburn , passed three years subsequently , which had for its otgtetthe correction of the principal abuse of which i complained ; and I am further ^ justified by the maz */ attempts of admiBistratioB vaeently made to deal with the whole
system . I complained-of Grand Jury jobbing , in whieh I was justified by -the n&w Grand Jury BiJi , Yhica fc&s certainly caused * more just expenditure , although net a p » ffH" ? t retrenchment in that department . I complained -of the old Police , their saode of appointment , their qualification , their dependency up » a the local -magirtrftto , and many otier afeosee ; a&d that I was justified in that complaint also , the Irish Constabolatory SHI fully proves .
Xow , my Lord * and Gentlemen , I mere ^ r state these facts to prove « hat I wai not a rebel , bit a forewarner , inlS 21 ; and cot by any means with , the intention of admitting tttat any one of the remedies < was sufficient for the abuses which they professed to cere , while each and all famish-evidence ot the existenoe-cf abase . My Lords sai-Gentlemen , I further -gtatetiiese facts for the purpose -of-apprising yoa that the justice of my present denude , and the injustice of my present peraecotioa , may be ** gnally and perhaps inoxe speedily acknovledged iy some subsequent acts of administration .
My Lords acd ^ Gentlemen , having said ao mush with & Tie * to "tree your minds from any prejudice wHeh s convietiaavfor what is called label might have created , allow me te tell you that , however the meshes of the law may haxe . caught me , my real . crime consists ia as endeavour te . preserve your estates arum the grasp of the English nunaiaeturera . That is " the head and front of my offending ; " bat do not mistake me—I fix- ™ uo credit < or tft ^ Y ' j f ^ i ^ Tqiiffr u my motives were of a far hffiw nature than a desise to uphold csjost powers ia ysarhands for the preaewation of a very foolish an * * ttrj destractrre moaopoly . My motive was to give to _ y « n the opportunity of iReformt before other * compelled jou to transfer .
My Lords and Gentlemen , such is pseosely your present position . Toe have now the option rhether . you will forego monopely and commence Reform , or preserve monopoly and eee your estates transfeEred to -other hands . In the plenitude of joor power , you may eaj , and atany of yoa will e » f—Mow eaa laws affect oar . pro-. perty ? How can land be transferred ? Let as inquire how law has already affected landed property , and see wherein landlords objected not to legislative interference , -when that interference tended to their beaeat . Cm yoa shew me one Act at Parliament which does sot ioterfere irith landed proper ^ ? while I will point fau Attention to many which have done so to a vary -considerable extent .
I sisall commence with thai law which your accept acae and support of rendew yoor position so very ueacTi&ble at the present nement I mean the law affecting the introduction of foreign grain U the British market That law ert&aded to yea the same faith for the rise and protectios ^ f your property that Sir Robert Peels memorable biU , passed in 1819 , extended to the fundholder , for the cue and protection of his property . To that law yos < £ d not object The equalisation of the currency of the countries affected your property held by tenants at will ; that gave to
many ao oportunity , « f which they availed themselves , of adding S % to that description of property ; while the bum parties reduced the wages of their labourers from H to 7 d ., thus adding 8 $ to one description of pro * perty , and 12 i to another description of property . Tot will aj that middle men only had recourse to this practice . My answer is , —They were your representatwes . You will also say thxt the iTirtAnrau were faw-Xj snnrer to that is , that I have been ecesnlted in many hundred eases of rent ; and in my own iaamediate aeigabourhood I know of some rery exteadre employes who reduced wages as I have stated .
Let me illustrate ttds by a case , in which a middleman made a profit of over 33 per cent , by the change Indeed I have known not a few such . Suppose a middle-man , who had underlet his ground to tenants at * iBj or by accepted proposal , and to hold a large I ^ aatity of land npon his own hands , Now I have kaown such men firstly to rri— the rent to the new steadard , that was 8 ^ per east ; then to reduce labour to the new standard , that was 122 ; then to pay
wages npon the truck system , by potatoes or flour ; tnd the alteratoon never touching the penny retail market of 'he labourer , that was a farther cheat up « n b&n or 12 $ per cent ; thu » , suppose A to have sold PttaU > es far Si . a weight before the alteration , and to have Bd . a day wages , after the alteration he reduced ** £ & > U 7 d-, and still a « w «^ n * and got Bd . for a * E « nfor potatoes , sod as he dealt in the ¦ wholesale aaekst , his 7 d- was made to represent txL , both in the P « naett of rent and interest and everything else .
The next act to which I shall direct you attention k the Tithe Composition Act By that act you forced tte incumbents into large redactions npon their * "m gg , corresponding , u yon averred , with the inee »» d security , while It fave them no increased eenriiy . The next act was tha recent Tfthe Act , by which 7 o » rdiered yo « estates of tweniy- * T * Pit cent of the Rthe . " ^ atxfc Wi tsj the Iiuh Poor Law Act
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New an theM aeta had a direct iaftaenceapon rents ; and I will sew show yon how Acts of Farliament , of a purely political character , interfere with landed property . The Catholic Emancipation Bill caused hundreds of thousands ef small holdings to be thrown into large f « wfi » , or added to those already in existence . The Reform Bill induced hundred * to withhold leases from a dread ot creating a political power over which they eonld net have an absolute oontroul .
Lord Morpeth ' s Registration Bill , ao fortunately defeated , would have increased that practice to an extent frightful to be contemplated ; and , judging from the past , most either have depopulated a great portion of Ireland , or must have paralyzed the hand of industry , and have limited the expenditure of capital , by depriving the occupying tenants of all tenure beyond your will in their farms , and , consequently , of all inducement aad heart to improve their holdings .
My Lords aad Gentlemen , having « o far shewn yon wherein yoa have been consenting parties to legislative interference with your estates , let me now point out whatever has been , and whatever mast be , the result of a perseverance in error , and a dogged obstinacy in resisting Reform . Had the owners of borough property conceded a very little of right to growing opinion , the Reform Bill would not , as yet , have passed . Had the Protestant Church and Churchmen conceded minor points to their Catholic brethren , ao virtually a sweeping measure of Emancipation a * that » f 1829 would not yet have been looked for , or , at all events , it would not have been carried . Had the Clergy of Ireland paid doe attention to the warning voice of Lord Hoontcaabel , convoyed to them in his celebrated , but neglected , letters to Proves * Slringten upon his translation to a bbhopriek , you would not as yet have heard of Church property being handed over , to the landlords of IreUnd . Had the West Indian slave owners listened some little to the voice of reason , jaatice , and hojeanity , the steve raigbfc yet have aighad for his msjmaiisrion . Bad the old corporations deferred , In time , t « the call for Reform , their pretcriptivs right to revel in local abase , would not have been ttasufemd to otker haeds .
, Now , my Lordsend Gentlemen , I use these instance of popular demand , increasing with oligarchical resistastos , far the purpose of opening year eyes to the startting fact , thathftberto the word Reform has meant CRANS 7 EB ; and , farther with tbe hope of convincing you that you have aow the option -whether you will Reform your own abases , or allew those abases to re main as a mark for the most powerful ( because the most wealthy and centralized ) party in the State , agatest which to direct the fall current of popular indignation , Ministerial experiment and « omm ' ercial speculation assault , with the view of transferring your estates to their own pockets .
My Lords and Gentlemen , sarely yoa have long sinee ascertained the fact that toe Reform Bill Vtt a transfer of legislative power f * em the landed to the manufacturing interest ; and the manner in whkk that power has increased and keen < used for the last nine years may lead you to some conclusion as to the probable result Mark the odds aoeinst which you have to contend ; yoor forces in Ireland , are in the hands of a man who would use them for your benefit , if 4 * y « o doing he could benefit himself ; bat that not toeing practicable ,-hft has chosen the shocking altematere of inducing the-Catholic people to commit suicide , aot ( as it is supposed by those who foolishly attach a religious -motive to iis tactics ) fox the purpose ot insasing a Catholic ascendancy : no such thing ; about UuU
he cares aot a farthing ; < imt your abuses give him a-handle over Catholic jsrejudices , and thereby enable him to throw all tfee political weight of agricultural Ireland into the iF"gK « ti manufacturers ' * eale , which is the important ooe jost now for insuring of political patronage . While yon are then deprived of-all popular support , your party in England ii thinly dispersed over the face-of a scantily populated country ; the population muck , ( thinned for the pscpose of creating * labour reserve in saheslthy manufactories towns . This portion of the population is , iretly , ijsaoqjrt as < the beasts they drive ; and , secondly , not capable of being brought together far effect , soda as prtUe -demonstrations ; while your enemies are as sembled in * n hoar by ring of bell , or placards » a tibe
Perbaps , 4 eeareinyoarmoimtain retreat orwell-kaered castle , yea may aay that you don't want demonstrations . I know fan do not , but can you either stop then or prevent their eff * ct ? No , you . cannot ; and , believe me , tha&lbe day is gone wh « a any Government-can bold power agsinst popular demonstration . My Lords and-Gentlemen , I now come to close qaarten with j « o . t- and yoa who know that I have been mixed np far twenty years in all the violent political straggles * f t&y own county , and who can bear witness that daring those contests , -which , have been angry , sharp , and frequent , I have never given personal offence
or lost a ^ riend , will n « w bear wvfeb . me , while I scold yoa well with the hope of sousing you to s sense of you * duty , of opening your eyes to your negligeocies and follies , and of directing your attention te the only possible Kuans by which you can much longer remain possessors of your estates-Again , I beg a&d beseech of yoa aot to reject the advice , because it comes from one mho has gained great triumphs oree you ; not to loot too carelessly at the picture whieh , lot a time , you aay see bat at a great distance ; sot to suppose that femi most quiet valley , embedded in your most infirrnaatMu mountains , is unapproachable to , « r proof against « n act of , the
My Lords and Gentlemen , do not "lay the flattering unction to your souls ** that the temporary ascendancy of your political party can stay the wanton ' s assault upon year property . Do not allow somentary atwftgth to harden you is error ; but , on the cooteary , seize it , embrace it , use It , u the most fitting and appropriate tisae for deliberation , and self-correction , and fteform . Set about it at once ; for , believe me , that short , very short , will be the political triumph of your friends .
My Lerds and Gentlemen , yoa are called monopolists , robbers , plunderers , murderers , and starvers of the poor . If there is any defence for yon , yoa will Sad it in reerimiaation . Yoa will find it in the taet , th&etbeae who thus brand you have themselves committed wholesale murder , plunder , and spoliation upon the poor , * a& would now rob yon to farther enrich themselves BatJ-riay Lords and Gentlemen , while I thus arm ' yoa" witfe a defence against those more deeply steeped in crime , do not suppose that I hold you guiltless . No , I do not ; > nt then yoor crimes are as whiU as snow compared with the scarlet sins of your accusers ; but yet yoa committed many and flagrant offences , and are still chargeable with the name
of monopolists , bat not in the sense in which the steam k / rdi apply it to landlords . No ! while their object is not by any means to improve the condition , or advance the comfort , of the poor , your erisoe consists , —not in upholding monopoly produced by Act of Parliament ; it does not consist of making a monopoly of grain ; bnt it doe * consist in making a monopoly , of land which produces grain , in order that you may make a monopoly of legislation , which produces place and wealth , patronage and distinction . Now herein is your folly ; and my greatest surprise has ever been , that landlords , not of a political tinge , or not looking for political gain , will allow their estates to be endangered by joining in the mad and reckless career of political patrons .
My Lords and Gentlemen , your monopoly consists in the law of primogeniture , which , morally , socially , and physically does yon , much damage . In year mode of leasing your estates in large allotments onsoited to the capital of the cooitry and destructive » f the industry of the country ; in your conditions annexed to occupation ; in your restrictions as to application ; in yonr exactions as to political support ; in your encouragement of the substitution of horse power for manual labour ; but aboTe all , in your obstinate perseverance
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in that antediluvian system of making serfs jof your tenants , by short lease * or no leases , aad th *> practice of «»* v ^ ng one settled invariable rent for * period , no matter how long ot how abort , without reference to the price of the produce of the comtnsdUy yoa let . Instead of regulating rent by a graduating scale of prices of produce;—this is little abort ot "HM ^ nfM
My Lords and Gentlemen , however ax&M&m may have l ed your judgment captive for a season , yosr shrewdness most have told yon that when yon were , ready to join in the spoliation of Church property fbr your own appropriation , yoa were firstly farniahlag a precedent for legislative interference with a title certainly inferior to the title of the Church ; and you might also have guessed that your turn would oonte when the next poll was required . ?
Yoa mast have known , because yon speak much of prescriptive right and inheritance , that the t $ le of a Church , whether that Church was Catbolie or Protestant , was a higher title , by law , to the land than the title of the landlord . You who speak of national faith , must be aware that prior te your becoming possessed of the land , the Church had a lien upon it to the amount of one-tenth of its prodoee .
Ton most have been aware that livings were purchased , and bargains made , and contracts entered npon , on the faith of this prior claim or mortgage The Church , in its turn , must have known that when it became a party to the appropriation of the trust-property of the poor , that its turn would one day eeme ; and the landlords moat have been aware that when they became a party ta the appropriation of church property to their own uses , that their day would come ; and those who would new appropriate your estates to their own uses , under the specious pretext of feedtnc
the poor , may rest assured that their day will also eeme . My Lords and Gentlemen , I mention these things to warn you of your danger , to alarm you of the thief * approach , to rouse yon to action , in order that profitting by the pourtrayal of your own folly , aad the folly of others , yoa may take the means of doing gratuitously for yourselves , that which , if left undone by you , will be done by rougher hands ; for done , believe me , it will be , and that right speedily . My Lords and Gentlemen , pray , pray , pray , keep that one feature full in view , —THAT DONE IT MUST BE ; and therefore the toestion is , WHO SHALL DO IT ?
You are new very peculiarly circumstanced . A bold exercise of your aewly-acquired political strength may do something for you . A prompt use of your social powers may save yoa . Let me point out to you how , and in what manner . If you cone forward in your political strength , and reduce expenditure , debt , wages of public servants , and all the cost of Government , to that standard to which a repeal of tan Corn Laws would assuredly reduce your estates , you will bat nominally suffer : your rentals will be redioed , but your burdens will be correspondingly lessened 4 your incomes will be virtually smaller , bat actually mere valuable , because more secure ; your position in cociety will not be la the lsast altered .
The most wealthy will still be the most wealthy , the several -classes measured by the same graduating scale , will see no perceptible change in their social 01 monetary arrangements . This change you can accomplish by a vigorous and timely exercise of your political functions . However , should you still cling to high rents aad expensive government , and a false preeminence froaa whieh a sudden shock may hurl you , you must , is such case , make timely use of your power as landlords ; you must bring your estates into the retail masbet , to suit the habits , customs , capabilities , and wanta of your own people ; while you will open for the English manufacture ** a trade , a horn * trade , a sure trade , larger and more remunerative than all their quackery would produce .
Thus , my 1 ,-ords and Gentlemen , you have it in your power to act as a break-water to the rushing rapids , while yen are erecting your new building ; and if you proceed with judgment , you may strike your centres at any given mement , without fear c £ < damage from the flood ; bat , ofpote the current , and your all will be hurried down the stream . My Lords a& 4 Gentlemen , attend to the alternatives between which jou have to select You must either throw your estates into gavel , and become tenants , in common with all the landlords of all the corn and cattle-producing -countries of the earth , or you must bring your estates into the retail sxacket , and give , from their enltisration , a& impetus to borne wianqfactures , and native industry . Have 70 a not had fall and
ample proof that the system of " hand-to-mouth" legislation , so long attempted , but in vsia , ia intended to correspond with the system which has been bat too successfully practised of making the working classes live from hand to mouth , in order that they may be more at the mercy of those employers who eke millions out of their dependency , / our obstinacy , and their own devilment ? Does not « aoh day's novelty famish you with proof that all laws ace now made with Uw one single object , however wide tfeey may be of the mark ; and that that object is to reduce the working people , made " surplus population " bf machinery , to the necessity of working at wages regulated by the mere existence point , or of emigrating to some foreign land , or of dying of hunger , or of revolting against the uaaatural state of thine * f
Mr Lords and Gentlenen , you have been too much in the habit ef listening to the wild vagaries « f hired experimentalists , wko write . according to orckr in the daily and weekly joumate , and who know as much about the national disorder , and the proper remedies , as barristers or attomies care about the purity of their client * . Fray bear in mind that the press is a hand-to mouth repast , furnished exclusively by the mooied orders ; and although your interests may be said to be represented by a few , yet are they all ia the posses sion of the hand-to mouth gentry ; for which , see advertisements , and point oat one from a landed proprietor , and let those papers dare to advocate your cause , and then point me out one at alL
Another " ignUfatuut" which blinks you and sets your heads wandering , is your sectional attachment to , and following of , some local and general parliamentary leader . Now , believe me , that those gentlemen will advocate their own interests by "if "g merchandise of you . Firstly , they do not understand the question ; and , secondly , they are politically divided npon it My Lords and Geatlemen , I smiled most sorrowfully at your childisk notion , recently made manifest in an endeavour to commence Reform by raising subscriptions tat agricultural shows , to divide among yourselves &ad a few of your petted tenants . As well may yon hope to heal a mortal wound by the application of a bit of court plaister . You must amputate .
My Lords and Gentle mea , I have for the present devoted as much space to you as I can pradtnttt afford . In my next I shall take a small estate of oW thousand acres , and th * w the little benefit conferred upon B&ciaty by your injudleiooj management and destructive monopoly of it ; and the great benefit which a prudent and prottable disposition may confer upon yourselves and society at large . I shall prove , beyond a possibility of refutation , that you are the monopolists , but not in the way sought to be proved by others . I shall prove that a wise and profitable allocation of a very small portion of the land of Great Britain and Ireland , would make the whole National Debt a mere thing of nothing ; capable of being redeemed in less than five yean by the working classes .
My Lords and Gentlemen , in my treatise I will not allow a political economist , a / moonshine theorist , / a single peg to hang a scientific objection upon , because I will argue the thing according to the very roughest and most dlscourgaging calculations , and not by the new arithmetic of scientific production ; but from such data as the least cultivated will understand ; and , I will undertake to prove that the landlords , either as the ascendant political party , or as a united body , may P-OW prepare U > Bate their estates , their country , tbeir
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# K # « rUes , aa 4 ,, the people fcpni irant , from npip * 4 M Atom revolution , J « m awa » that many MtUoni will be raised , baft bo refutation gU » ittesaiilud ; and , as to objections without gpM $ W ; tSTey&at bespeak prejudice aad affection for fPe % wfeift b ^ rt ill acoorda with the present times , ** 3 « riM w * telMftafld to . " My Lords afed GeatSemen , let me , in concluding this , tnjr fist * ^ sttur , - warn yoa that , at once , either the Corn Laws * most be Repealed , or you must tender Jbeif immediate Repeal unnecessary , or put youneta * in « V oondtUottte meet tho new order of things crea % d fey Repeal , or defend your estates by force of
Asjatn , I Jell yoa that the political democratic eurr rent wUl ^ ji o& y but upon the opposera to that current musijeiigjjjfae damage which the flood shall do in its pregMjpii implore you to erect your break : waters , by ^*? & 0 l tf *^ <^^ Tfo i *^*** m ** ^ wiwHfbe participators In toe change . The people , the starving people , the brave people , the magnanimous people of England have braved hunger , want , and privation , with Roman fortitude and unprecedented heroism . They have rejected the bait intended to entrap them into absolute slavery . They have resisted all invitations to commit rapine , plunder , spoliation , and devastation .
But , my Lords and Gentlemen , well organised as we ore , ( for I have left you , and become part and parcel of the people . ) yet , all hope failing of such immediate social change as we look for , pending our advocacy of universal right , we shall be left no alternative , by your refusal , but to experimentalise upon your properties . My Lords and Gentlemen , we can rob you all in less than six weeks , though you had the Court , the Lords , and the Commons with you ; an * , having dene so ,
then you would be thrown into revolution with the fundholder , the parson , the mortgage * , the simple cantract creditor , your mothers , your brothers , your sisters , ind yonr dependants , who , believe me , will be as loth to give up their grasp upon their monopoly as yon have been to surrender your * . Judge , then , in which situation you can best arbitrate , whether before or after TRANSFER . We are called Destructives ; while we have borne oppression rather than change the warfare to our oppressors' camp .
My Lerds and Gentlemen , I will write you six letters . Bo not reject them or treat them jeeringly ; for should you , after notice , persist In error , the war will be carried into your camp . I have the honour to be , My Lords and Gentlemen , Your obedient servant , , FEA . RGUS O'CONNOR . York Castle , Condemned Cell , June 2 Sth , 1841 .
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TO THE FUSTIAN JACKETS . Mt dkab Comrades , —The first campaign of single-handed Chartism ia over , and , thank God for it ! it has terminated gloriously and to the immortal honour of the people . I rejoice to think that , bowever some of the least bad men have received a sectional local support here a&d there , yet has not one single demonstration taken place in aid of faction—not one ! Now , my dear friends , hear me . To gain a viotory is comparatively easy , while to turn triumph to advantage requires all the thought , prudence , and discretion of the wisest head . I asked yoa to take care and make the Whig force in the next Parliament too mall for a party , and too large for a tattm ;; XjW ^**?*^ W »*« w » **** »**« of tffifiraouiMntea . / ¦ -.- , „ ;
If the parties were balanced , as recommended by w PabUcola , " they would have played battle-dore and shuttle-oock with the people . A party sufficiently large to be presumptive heirs to office , would still stand upon constitutional prerogative , and would be afraid of " liberal measures , " lest they should establish precedents to be followed when in power . A party in opposition large enough to take office with the existing Parliament , will have nothing to fear from popular indignation , as they would not be compelled to dissolve in order to insure a majority . If tne Whigs were in a minority , of not more than ten , and if the Tories found themselves too weak to retain office , a sufficient number of " waiters upon Providence" would join the Whigs rather than
encounter another general election : but , with a majority of fifty or sixty against them , the Whigs would be compelled to come again before the people , and , before their next appeal , they will have Hbcovered who the people are . I have told you many a time and oft , that there are only two wars of effecting any great change ; the one by physical revolution , the other by an act of the legislature . The good people have now come to aknowlege of the fact that all physical revolutions terminate unsuccessfully to the cause of liberty ; and even if it were not so , they but look upon suob means of acquiring justice as a last and dreadful resource . In such case it becomes the bounden duty of every man who decries revolution , and yet
proclaims death in any shape to be preferable to the continuance of the system against which he contends ; it becomes his duty to state freely and fairly wherein the realization of his hopes are feasible without revolution , and how the ; can be effected by an act of the legislature . Such shall be my present task . The paupers provided for by the Sate are divided into two political parties , each depending for distinction , and even for existence , upon their respective hold of office ; while all the industrious classes form one compact and united body . I say untied , and 1 say all ; because tradesmen , shopkeepers , and all the intermediate parties between those who haro raw property and those who convert that raw
material into value by labour , must , or necessity , very soon discover that the people are the belly of the State , and that all other classes are but the members ; and that the belly being starved , the members must perish . While there was enough of plunder for all , the tradesmen and shopkeepers preferred competency with political distinction , to superfluity purchased at the expence of the loss of that distinction ; but now that the idlers of the aristocracy hare become too numerous to admit of any division of the plunder , and even the respective parties of the highest order have become , either of them , too large to be comfortably quartered upon what the people , made paupers by machinery , can afford to give , they will both very soon discover that the increase of
machinery , to any amount , no matter how great , and the wealth produced thereby , no matter howsoever enormous , will be of not the slightest benefit to them ; but , on the contrary , " as much would have more , " the owners of machinery will consider all too little for themselves . In this state of things , I think we stand in no danger of a coalition being formed by the parties ; and , indeed , even that would give us a Republican opposition in the House , constituted of all the disappointed of both parties . Now , the Whigs are far the poorer of the two parties ; and when they are for a season excluded from the mess , and when Mr . O'ConneU finds Sergeant Jackson , and Mr . Lit ton , and a few more
Tories , placed upon the bench , and when he finds all the offices to whieh he had the appointment , and from which , believe me , he had very pretty pickings , handed over to the enemy , he will foam like a mad dog at the month ; and in their weak and helplosB condition , their appeal will be from houset to men . Don't you mind " Publicola " , who has written more rubbish since the dissolution than all the Whig scribes put together , aad that is saying a great deal ; I say don ' t you mind him , when he . tellB you that the Whigs will join in oppression for spite , because the people opposed them . Not a bit of tt . They , believe me , will join whoever or whatever , if it was the devil himself , has the power of whipping the Tory pack from the mess and giving it to th « m . Well ; then will come our turn , and then will be the time for an
understanding , and this brings me to the legislative mode of carrying oat our principles . The Whigs , before they again come to office , must dissolve , and they mast not only dissolve , but we will take precious good eare that if they do dissolve upon a elap-trap , the appeal will be answered m the last has been . Bat , if they dissolve upon the only metsure which we will accept as term * of union , we will farther take care , that their majority shall consist of Chartists , and not of mere anti-Tories . Now , one thing they have ascertained , that is , that the Reform Bill has failed to be a Whig guarantee of office , and another thing they saay have learned , is , that without the people they can do nothing . Now , suppose they should either dissolve again , which ia by no means improbable , because the whig ntertainment will not be allowed to terminate without a farce ; or , euppoBe , that anything should
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, 4 ra » flnoW > s t » L Well ; iftroeB c *** , i&e electors of the present JMT would he . registered , and they would eafeoZato that : —If , dnee 1837 , being four yean , the Torfe * Save changed one majority of 101 to a minority of m * by the Reform machinery , and if the last year hu been one of increased activity in registration , what would be the probable result of another General Election ! Answer-pae 4 ia to 140 , 1 is to 34 , aad the result would be a f ory majority of 75 . Another qpettioB is ^ what possible means have we no " w of obviating such a result ! Answer—by an appeal to the people . Upon what terms 1 By guaranteeing to them thftjeturn of thirty of their own selected rejpr $ aeiitatires , npon the condition that the nation Will riee edtulitutionallif , M one man , to
ensure , not Only aa anti-Tory House , but to givo to the whole people one-twentieth of the representation , with * view < e laying popular feelings , opinions , wants , and demaads before the Legialatore , thereby transferring p « wer for ever from the hands of the Tories < d the hands of the Reformers , for the por *; pea * 6 f working « f » £ tfurt principle of the Refonb Bill , which , they say , they h » ve hitherto been prevented from doing by Tory opposition . Now , this ia the safety-valve—the only aafety-ralve , » ad if not very speedily applied to the steam of boiling public opinion , the eagme will explode . ¦ This representation , would place the people , not as the Reformers were placed some forty years ago , but ill that position ia which their increased power ,
based upon their increased union and knowledge , entitles them to . Tke Reformers never bad any back , that is . anj real back , such aa the Chartists would have outside . The Reformers never meant what they said , and most unfortunately , the Reform Bill was passed in a storm , and without previous preliminary tutoring of the public mind / to prepare it for the full benefit of a well digested measure . This is the advantage whiob we would now have over all other parties , tee are prepared with a new system , to replace the ' old , without an interregnum of chaos and speculative rule . We have not thrown out the dirty water till we have got clean . If I , was not fearful of being charged with despotism , I could mention thirty men
whose presence would do honour to the House of Commons , and not one of whom could be purchased , and each and all of whom should sign the pledge to resign when called upon , and receive the salary for service , M laid dowa in the Charter ; and more , I would not be one of them , as I am resolved to remain as * ftentry over the fustian army of observation . But , while I thuB select my own port , I would give the garrison twenty times as much strength as if I was one among them . Now , I will lay down a few faets for you . Neither the Honse of Commons' Reformers or the House of
Commons' leadere of any one great question ever yet intended to extend to the people the whole or what they promised . They have gone far enough to hound the popular cry on , in anticipation of all the promised results , and when their own object has been achieved , then have they turned upon the " ignorant people ? ' and taunted them with madness , in having , so violently and erroneously misconstrued those opinions ; which , while enforcing , they took particular trouble to prove were in exact accordance with popular notions . In fact , the people never , till now , were in a fit state to judge whether they were or were not duped by their leaders .
The very same coarse baa been pursued by the liberal prets . I will give you two melancholy instances ; one furnished by the Weekly Dispatch , the other by the Leeds Mercury , For many years , Pu blicola , a writer i& the Dispatch , had been taunting the people with passive endurance of wrong , ana actually brought the publie mind up to a high pitch of contempt for royalty , and all the institutions of the country . Well , in 1838 , when themen of Birmingham responded to the national call , and placed Universal Suffrage upon their banners , " Publicola" turned round and denounced them . Since then , "Publicola" has boasted of his own forwardness , and jeered at the little good that could be expected from the practical workings of the Charter . He has also been
loud in bis denunciation of royalty , and all ancient instityttenc , and baa attempted to palm some absurd thtrty 4 » ine articles « f political faith npon the Chartists ; Bat since the dissolution of Parliament , this anti-monarchist , and hater of all institutions , has told us that he is " more thana Chartist" and , therefore , opposed to Universal Suffrage , and the Payment of Members ; and he has recently actually denounced the wife of the Superintendant of ihe Woolwich Dock-yard , for not being as well dressed as the Queen , upon the visit of her Majesty to see Aership , the Trafalgar , launched ; nay , he is loud in bia complaints , that this lady did aot lay aside her soul ' mourning , and dress inward grief in outward joyous gaiety , in honour of Royalty ; he also
complains that the police and attendants did not take off their hats often enough ; and bow low enough to Royalty ; he also complains that the furniture of her reception room wa 3 not sufficiently expensive , and that the servants had the matchless insolence to move about in her presence , regardless of Royalty ; and further , that they swept , wad dusted the tables , and chairs , and he rejoices that the servant in waiting upon her Majesty was made to smart under the withering scowl of offended Royalty . The Mercury was the cause of fourteen poor men being hung upon one and the same day at York Castle ; the Mercury has invited assaults apou landed property , and has gone far to create revolution in favour of Whiggery and " Reform . "
Now , then , mind . Those humbug prints would houndI you on at their prey , and , pointing to the advantage which you were to acquire , they would slip you from the leash when their own enemies were to be hunted down ; bat the moment you had done that , then would they " coop the eagles from their carrion , " and whip public opinion with a scorpion , and merciless laBh from the very scent themselves had Bet it on . Now , with thirty Chartist Members , pledged to resign when called upon , always mind that ; neither leaders nor newspapers could whip national opinion from the game . Well but how is it to be done ? Why as easily as to fall off a horse . Let the Whigs dissolve upon the principles promised in the Reform Bill , that
" taxation and represeniatim shall be co-extensive ; and , humble as I am , I pledge my life npon the issue , which shall be even with the present electoral body backed by the people , to change the Tory majority , from whatever it may be to a mere factious minority ; but then we wi ll secure the return of our men . first or it is no go . The past elections have proved that where Chartism wasrearesen ted on the hustings , the people were ready to rally upon the moral strength of their cause , and its representation in the House would be the only meaus of insuring its legislative success , which if denied , will assuredly be accomplished by other and less desirable means . Brothers , upon no conditions whatever can we
unite with either party , upon the understanding that we abate a pin ' s point of our olaims . We refused it to the enemy when strong , and sha ll we now weaken ourselves by becoming partners in a totter ing firm ? Never become tenant to a falling house , or join ia business with a declining partner . We must not now fight the battles over again , wherever any one body of our local friends have , from justifiable causes , acted an apparently different part from another body , we must not assume that either were rightor wrong in order to justify the other . The probability is . that in all and every case , the Chartists were right , and , indeed , I am sure they were . Therefore , no fighting of the battle over again , it will but do the enemies work , and create disunion and division .
I Bhall conclude with a quotation from the man who understood man , and his nature , better than any who has lived before or since his time—Shakspeare . In speaking of unity , the great master says : — " Under wise conduct and mature design It is well possible that many things . Having fall reference to one consent , May aot accordingly ; though else contrariors : As many arrows loosed several ways Fly to one mark ; As many several ways meet in one town ; As many fresh seas run in one-self sea ; Aa many liaes close in the dial ' s centre ; So many a thousand actions onee a foot End in one purpose , and be all well born Without defeat "
So writes , the great poet on unity . Als * hear , what he says of union , and mark its application to our present position : — Where what combined math been most gnat , these let not Inferior causes sever . " Now , hear what one of " nature ' s journeymen" has been telling the people for twenty years : — " Our BlrtngUii is in owr mien , owrpovm k few ofce , and our suecm inour pt . ntvvrthos . '' Brothers , stand fast and fear not . Onward , and vre conquer : backward , and we fall . Universal Suffrage , and No Surrender . " As well may the lamb with the tiger unite , The mouse with the cat , or the lark with the kite . " I am , Ycux true aud constant friend , Fsarqvs O'CoNRoa .
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. KOTTBAM . —Mr . Samuel Jm Hadfleld baa bees appointed to the oeundl , la the room of Ut . Wfm Mills , stone-mason . HOLUNewORTH . -Mr . John Leach , of Hyde delivered an able and interesting lecture ,, in Um chartist Room , on Sunday last * DROGHSEDA . — A letter from DrogfcedV statesthat" the principles of Chartism 1 b spreading among the working class in this town with ia . astoniBhins ; rapidity . " BAUSB 0 RY . —That talented advocate ' . of tb » rights of the people , Mr . Ruffy Ridley , lee ured ia Salisbury , on Monday evening , July 5 th , on the First Principles ef Government—Free Trade—and tne People ' s Charter—to * boot five hundred . Mr . R .. Ridley was well received , and gave the greatest satisfaction to all present . After the lecture , several noble fellow * joined the society } we have now a good prospect of going a-bead . ;
MANCHC&TEB-—Release op CBAKTis / r Pw « ^^^^ "fe i ^^ S ^* ^ ninths , fbr the 12 th of August affair , were 1 Unrated oa Monday merning , without any previous notfee , and entered Manchester on Tuesday , as full of Chartist fire and zeal , and indeed more so , thin they were when draft incarcerated .. . HBB . RAH FOB THB WOMEN OP MiKCHESTBB !—They have been subscribing liberally themselves , and collecting from their blends , in order to raise a fund t # enable them to do their share in paying due honour to Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., at the coming demonstration They have purchased a piece of canvas , which mearareg
eight feet by seven , and engaged a first-rate portrait painter to paint a full-length likeness of that gentleman , dressed in fustian , with the People ' s Charter in hie hand . At a short distance from him appear * a large assemblage of people , the males dressed in fustian ; and to his right there is an imitation of a castle ; and at the corner of the picture there is a large figure representing Henry Hunt , the departed , coming through the clouds , and speaking to O'Connor . The painting ia nearly finished , and presents a moat interesting and splendid appearance , so far as the writer of this—who Uas been brought np a painter—can judge . The mottoa are not on yet , but Will be given in the delineation of the procession .
LONDON . —After a bustling and fatigneing election week of days and nights , the Chartists of the city , still desirous not to relax in duty to their fellow-men , met on Tuesday night last , at the Political and Scienific Institute , 55 , Old Bailey ,: and are very desirous that their fellow-members of the National Charter Associa tion ahoald meet at the above place , to attend to their duty to the Association , next Tuesday . The share holders of the above place are to have a special general meeting on Sunday morning next , at ten o ' clock , when a code of laws for their future guidance -will be submitted for their consideration , also a plan of a political loan tract society . Mr . Sankey Is expected to lecture in the evening , at seven o ' clock , of the sat&a day , in the above place . '
CAMBERWEIi . —The Chartists of Camberwell and Wai worth , at their weekly meeting , held last Monday night , at the Rose and Crown Intf , Wai * worth , resolved , — " That aa the permanent Executive would commence business on Monday , the 12 th day of July , and having perfect confidence in those elected to serve on that Executive , we are now prepared to forward to Manchester ¦ : ¦ £ ! t to enable those brave and good men to carry out the > great principles of liberty and justice againsttyranny and injustice . " We am progressing ; we have a local Committee for the better management . of ouv finances , and we have found its good effects already . We are determined to go on perseveringly and constitutionally agitating for the Charter ; the whole Charter , and nothing less than the Charter will satisfy us .
TODMORDEN . —The weekly meeting of tb . 8 Chartist Society took place on Monday evening last * when many persons came forward to have their names enrolled . Bm « ilN © HAM . —Public Mektiko .- ^ -k nnhlu * meeting was held at the Railway Station , Duddes > ton-row , on Monday evening last , Mr . Walter Thome in the chair . Mr . George White addressed the meeting on the absolute necessity ot union and organization amongst the people , and pointed out the means by which Government managed to blindfold , and oppress the millions . He exposed the trickery of the Whigs at the nomination , and hoped that all men who felt the truth of Chartism , would prove their sincerity by joining the National , Charter Association . Mr . Roberts , of Bath , was then
ntroduced and spoke of the apathy which had been . ii splayed by the people as the chief cause why so many of their friends had been imprisoned and others banished . . The working classes , were allpowerful if they thought proper to unite and make % proper use of their strength , but as long as they contented themselves with mere display ; and remained iifa disorganised state so long would they have to suffer the miseries of misgoyerament . After a few other excellent remarks he retired , remarking that the effect of his imprisonment was such as to prevent him from speaking at much length at open air meetings . After another address from Mr . White , the meeting was adjourned to Monday evening next at seven o ' clock , Mr . White giving notice that as they were shut up from the Town Hall and the other large buildings , it was his determination to address the people at that place , every Monday
evening , Monday Evening ' s Meeting . —The usual weekly meeting took place on Monday evening , at th # room in . Freeman-street , Mr . Thompson , of Hurst » street , in the chair . The meeting was addressed by Mr . White , in his usual style . At the conclusion of his address he informed the meeting , that as he had so many meetings to attend he would beg leave to withdraw from the secretaryship of the Association , in order to make room for Mr . Wilkinson , who was a very talented and industrious young man , and one that he knew would do more justice to the office than he could . The sense of the meeting was then taken , when it was unanimously agreed that Mr . Wilkinson was a proper person for the office .- Notice was then given that a lecture would be delivered Oa the following Wednesday , in favour of Mr . Brown , now an inmate of Warwick gaol , after which the meeting separated .
Fbost AcRESTOBATioif Commitheb . —The Committee have received the 3 s . 6 d . collected at Nottingham . It was duty forwarded by the party alluded to in their letter . Freeman Street Meeting . —A meeting was held at the Chartist-room , Freeman-street , on Sunday evening last , Mr . Corbet , of Richard-street , in the chair . Mr . G , White addressed them on the blessings and benefits that would arise from the establishment of the People ' s Charter . He exposed the folly of the parties calling themselves Chartists , continually begging support from the middle
classes , and instanced the late elections as a proof that they would rather send a Tory to the House of Commons than an honest Chartist . He expressed a belief that if the Charter was granted , the moment the people began to make laws for the protection of their labour from the plunder of the middle and upper classes , that they would then unite and endeavour to repeal it . He , therefore , impressed it oa the minds of his hearers that nothing could deliver them from the present murderous state of society , but a powerful union of determined working men . He was loudly cheered at the conclusion .
MU ) DLBSBRO ' .-At a public meeting held on Wednesday , ia last week , in the Market-place , Mr . John Sutherland in the chair , it was resolved unanimously , " That this meeting views with dismay the alarmingly depressed state of this country , a state of things which is fast hurrying the employer and the employed into a state of bankruptcy , ruin , and starvation ; and as the present constituency baye not returned Representatives either capable or willing to protect or reform our commercial institutions , therefore this meeting expects no beneficieial change
until the principles of real and salutary reform embodied in the People ' s Charter be adapted , " Seooadf " That this meeting indignantly reprobates the disgraceful conduct of the gentlemen : so called " , of th » Anti-Corn Law League , of Manchester and Stockport , in engaging a band , of ignorant violent . men to put down free discussion on the Corn Law questionthis meeting deeming » ach eomdutt a malicioM attempt to provoke an outbreak , ky whieh all tke odium might be thrown on the Chartists , to theinjury of the caoae of Chartism generally . **
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. ««¦ «•¦¦ m ^ > » vv »» . Thh Eabx of Cajuhoah A « a » . —The Earl ef Cardigan waa ballotted for m a member of the Senior United Service Club on Tuesday , the 0 th , jof Jaly . There were 28 white and 166 MaAJsJIJufciaML * ... _ 194 ballotted . The Noble Earl nn liWlWlljT £ Ki > { acted , and the consequence of iha yHeafloafflgUsA R ie cannot be again proposed si * m « iaW ^^ S » W . ^ years . It so happens that the other ' ¦' fm jSHgBrtW ?* ' S \ didates , and , among them , the major < JBH 9 | S 2 tt ^ ' ~ * o \ Hossars , were all admitted . ' ' Sj lKhW ^ ^ ' f' ^" - ^ ' Much sicktoss prevails among tnSHfflS ^^ JK- ? : ; ' i ! Havanna . A gentleman who has reSt ^ EIp § gniTL _ L ~ ~ ii city for tweuty years has never I iMMlMia . kif ^ V V / fatal or bo generally prevalent as it hv \ &aS 5 j&Sv ^ ^~ <^ S last few weeks among the shipping in pos ^ lJ yj c UjTiJ
To The Lain≫Loeds Of Irelam
TO THE LAin > LOEDS OF IRELAm
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P . S . —That I did not Judge badly of the strength the resolution , and the heaesty of the non-elector * , by relying solely upon their iratchfulness of the * & } made of their strength by leaders , sujy be jatberaLfrcm the just and wholesome examples made of traitors Devet and Bdynxda , x ' .. Remember jtb » men , and that we are th * hsptsmttt wJwean » yt b » lloo , oe « ft , cess , fess , good dflgs ^ a 4 d remember ; that we don ' t wane aay of the awpt 1 we «« lj WI&M jprerant either paek from ;* fttfa { W ipscb , to * h * iaj « ry of thsik oqnstr * . toop * . . - ^ - t , o » a
C^ Attijrt %Mtw&Nte.!
C ^ Attijrt % MtW&nte . !
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* ¦ ¦ - -- ¦ . . " "' '' _ > , - i > / AND LEEDS GENlto ABHETM& -- ¦ ' . , 1 ., \ < \ * ¦ . " *¦ 1 j l A . A t >•
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VOL . IY . ISO . 191 . SATURDAY , J ^ Lf 1 % . J 841 . "T ^ SSSg ^^ gr '
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), July 10, 1841, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct387/page/1/
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