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THE NOETHERN STAE. SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 1842.
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MR. O'BRIEN AND HIS "VINDICATION."
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
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SPLENDID AND COSTLY PRESENT TO THE HEADERS OF THE " NORTHERN STAR , " eteekiked to commemorate every great national event connected with the present " movement , " Mr . 0 * 00575011 has entered into arrangements for presenting the Subscribers to the Slew- with * large and splendid Engraving of the Presen-- tation of
THE GREAT NATIONAL-PETITION £ 0 the House of Commons . Ths Plate will be as much superior to the Engravings already given with the Star , as-they were to any ever given with any other newspaper . It will be divided , as it were , into three main compartments . The first will represent the Djble-SATBsiB CosTEKTioN assbmbled , previous tp starting with the Petition to the House of Commons , The centre and largest compartment will represent the Pbocession Eceompanyingthe Petition to the Honse , the Petition itself , the Beabebs of it , and the People , when passing Whitehall , and approaching Palace Yard . The third
compartment will represent the Petition IN THE HOUSE , when " laid on the table f being a general view of the Interior of the-House of CommonB , the Bar andtheSpeaker ' s Chair beiDg promiHent features . In addition to these main compartments the upper and lower edges of the plate will be divided into sixteen other smaller compartments , each one of which will contain an accurate representation of some great Public Building passed in the route from the Convention Rooms to the Parliament Honse . Views will thus be given of Temple Bar , St . Clement Dane's Church , Somerset House , Exeter Hall , St .
Mary-le-Str&nd , Trafalgar Square , Northumberland House , Whitehall . Richmond Terrace , The Admiralty , The Horse Guards , Westminster Bridge , The Treasury , Westminster Abbey and St . Margaret ' s Church , Westminster Hall , and the Exterior of the House of Common . T&ere will thus be given , upon one very large sheet , Ivineteh !* Sflekdid PicnTEES , all harmoniously combined to make the whole an effective and worthy representation of the most important movement ever made by the English people in favour of liberty . The terms upon which the Plate will be issued are as follow : — ¦ Every Subscriber to the Star for Four Months , from the date of entering his name with his
newsagent , will be eatitled to a Plate . We do not promise to have it ready at any particular time , for the "work will be one of such a character s and will need such careful attention on the part of the Engraver , as to defy any one to fix an exact time . This , however , we do promise . Every subscriber is at liberty to cease his subscription at the end of four months , holding his ticket , and receiving bis plate and paper from the Agent he has subscribed with , the day it is presented , just as if he had continued to subscribe . The Price of the Paper the week the Plate is- presented will be One Shilling . We will try to make such arrangements as will make this the onlj charge the Subscribers will have to
pay . Agents , therefore , will please to open subscription lists , and in all cases furnish the subscriber with a ticket , wMch ticket will entitle him to the Plate whenever it is given for subscribing for the Star for four months . As soon as possible , specimens shall be placed in - the hands of the Agents .
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[ We have seen the pamphlet to which this letter refers and lament its publication , because we fesr that to some extent th * people's cause "will suffer by it . We are alsa sorry for Mr . O'Brien , -who has by this most imprudent step made himself justly liable to black and deep suspicions , which he -will probably find It much more easy to excite than to allay . One thing is perfectly clear ; that the pamphlet is entirely harmless as far as we are concerned . The only
« arue 3 who can suffer from it are its author and the Chirtist body . There are only two classes of persons wao can read the pamphlet : honest men and fcn&Tes . ¦ These will again consist of such as have read the Northern Siar and such ashav * not read it Those of the honest men who , like Mr . Allen , have read the Star ,-know perfectly , that of all men living Jlr . O'Brien onght te regard the Editor of that paper with gratitade instead of malice . They know that during the -whole term of its existence the Northern Star has permitted no opportunity of enhancing Mr . CBrieirt interests Kid of asaertiag his merit * to pass unimproved ; they know that for the means of publishing tMsTery pamphlet—all shameless as it
is—Mr . CBrienia indebted to the exertions of the Northern Star , in gratuitously advertising , for weeks andmontbs together , asd continually calling attention to , and enforcing upon the notice of its readers , the subscription lists through which he has become provided with these means ; they know perfectly that whenever on public matters , the Editor has disagreed with Mr . O'Brien , that disagreement of opinion has been by ip-m expressed is the most respectful and gentlemanly terms ; they know that the Editor of the Norfhern Star has occupied many columns in defending Mr . O'Brien against the attacks of other parties ; they know all this ; tliough they do not know half so much as Mr . O'Brien himself knows of the trouble that has been taken and tha inconvenience that has been
sustained by the Editor of the Northern Star , to uphold Mr . O'Brien ' s interests ; these honest men , therefore , who have read the Northern Star , and who know the whole history of the whole matter , will see Mr . O'Brien ' s pamphlet in its true light , in the light in which Mi . Alien sees it They know that its abuse and ribaldry is neither due nor applicable to ui ; they know that its recklessness of assertion is made up of outrageous misrepresentations and wilful , deliberate falsehoods , and we shall , therefore , sot suffer in their estimation because of the extraordinary pranks of Mr . James O'Bries . Honest men who have not read
the Star will see at once that the ribald tzash of this pamphlet must of necessity exclude it from every decent newspaper . They will perceive that Mr . O / Bnen cauld not either have expected or intended that the blackguard letter which is its chief feature should appear in tfee paper to which he had the insolence to address it ; and therefore , without ^ entering at all into the question of whether Mr . OBrien might or might not nave some cause of effence , they "Will see enough from the pamphlet to satisfy them that the oaly disgrace it reflects ia npon its author ; ia aid of whose testimony they -win require better avidsnw than this elegant morceau . In the judgment and estimation of all boawt mec , therefore , whether tfcey may ever have Men tifcStor or b » W tb » only luffewa iron this pam-
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phlet will be Mr . O'Brien himself ; while knaves of aU grades will lay gladly hold of it as » means of injuring the people ' s cause . Pretended CbaiiMs , and traitors in our own camp , if thete beany , will use it as a means cf exciting and fomenting ill feeling and division ; open enemies will point excitingly to it as a specimen of the style and spirit ef the elite of Chartism . They will ask , with some degree of plausibility , whether the fact that popularity ia accorded by the working men to such parties as Mr . O'Brien describes the Editor ef the Northern Star to be , and by his own pamphlet proves himself to be , is not sufficient to justify them in their opposition to the Charter , on the ground that to grant it would be to place the interests and destinies
of the whole people in the hands 01 a few reckless and unprincipled men—alike destitute of the virtues and the decencies of ordinary society ? This is the only effect which Mr . O'Brien ' s pamphlet is calculated to produce ; this is the only effect it will produce , Mr . O'Brien knew that before be published it ; he could not help knowing it ; and hence the honest and truth-loving Chartists begin , like Mr . Allen , " to suspect that ail is not light " We regret that these suspicions should get abroad ; because we think the matter may be accounted for on different principles from that to which some parties seem disposed to refer it We do not think that Mr . O'Brien has been bought or bribed by the enemy to do his little best for the destruction of the Chartist
movement ; thongh if be bad been so , he could scarcely have served his employers better . We believe his present vagaries to be merely the result of morbid excitement , arising chiefly from that contemptible littleness of mind , the compound of vanity and disappointment , which has been happily termed 11 thinskinnedneaB . " It is lamentable that a man who has formerly done service te the good cause should be capable of making such an exhibition of himself ; but we can enly lament the fact ; we cannot help it We grieve to see Mr . O'Brien in the position he has chosen to take ; but , inasmuch as he has chosen it , we have no alternative but to leave him in itl—Ed . N . S .
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mb . o'cojfnob will address the people of bulwell , neax Nottingham , on Tuesday next , the Seventh i > stant , at Six o ' clock in thb evening . The Chair must be taken PRECISELY AT THAT HOUB ., AS Mb .. O'CoNNOB IS EXGAGED TO ADDS 3 SS THE PEOPLE OP NOTTINGHAM , AT BUNKKHS-HILL , AT ElGHT O ' CLOCK , ON THE SAME EVENING .
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MR . ROEBUCK AND THE NATIONAL PETITION . Wht was Mr . Rofbuck , of all other men in the world , selected by the factions to damn the National Petition when it was presented to " the House" by Mr . Duncombb ! is a query that presents itself to the mind of every labouring man who calls to mind the flaming professions of ultra democracy which Mr . Roebuck has unceasingly made ; and the question is not very easy of solution , unless one looks some little below the surface , and examines in detail " the wheels within wheels" of Parliamentary machinery .
Ever since the existence of the two fattions whose baneful power has produced such woe and want in this once happy land , there has also existed a SHAM OPPOSITION to them and their doings . The object of these Oppositionists" has always been , by loud and extensive professions , to gain the confidence of the oppressed people ; and then to treacherously sell and barter the confidence so obtained to the Minister of the day ! In later times ,
from Fox downwards , the House of Commons has been the continued scene of operations like these Not a single Parliament has there been holden , that has not had , as one of its component parts , a SHAM OPPOSITION . As one man has been sopped off , another has taken his place ! The game has bean kept up . The displacement of one SHOYHOY , a 3 Cobbett appropriately named them , has been followed by the substitution of another .
These SHDY-H 0 Y 3 are a portion , and a main portion too , of the system . To have attempted to carry the measures that have been carried ; and to have imposed the burthens that have been imposed , without " AN OPPOSITION , " would have been certain ruin to any minister that should have so attempted . The " OPPOSITIONIST" amuses the people , while the Minister picks the pocket and fastens the padlock ! The "OPPOSITIONIST "
also Berves another useful purpose : he serves as a safety-valve for the murmurs and complaints of the choused and cheated ; and he lets down , gently , but effectually , any and every attempt that the people may make to recover lost ground , or to better their former position . The Parliamentary SHOY-HOY is as much interested in the continuance of the system as the placeman or sinecurist himself ; and he labours as hard , in his way , as either , to preserve it inviolate and complete .
Fox ; " the great immortal English patriot , " Fox , is the first SHOY HOY , in order of time , that we shall here notice . We single him out , because it was daring his " opposition" that that war , which added bo much to the Debt , and which entailed upon this cheated people the enormous "dead weight" they now have to bear ; it was during the " opposition" of Fox that that "just and necessary war" was undertaken and carried on . Fox was a party in reality , though not in appearance , to the commencement and continuance of that war . The
object of the aristocracy in commencing it was to prevent the carrying of Parliamentary Reform . This object was equally dear to both portions of the aristocracy ; the IVhig and the Tory . Pitt was the mouthpiece of the latter party ; and Fox was the champion of the Whig ? . Pitt was the son of a Whig pensioner , and began hi 3 career , not only as a Whig , but as a Parliamentary Reformer ; and Fox was not only bred a Tory , and began his career as a Tory , but he had , and held to the day of his death , tiro sinecure offices !!! These men were the two
men of the whole collection who could talk the loudest , longest , and most fluently ; and who were therefore picked out by their respective parties to lead in carrying on those " Debates , " as they are called , which have been one of the great means of amusing , and deluding , and enslaving the nation ! Every effort was made by the respective parties to exalt their champions in public estimation . They were represented as the two most wonderful men that the werld bad ever seen ! The people , carried away
by such jugglery , ranked themselves under one or the other of these p&ragonB , and took their respective names as marks of honourable distinction : and thus , for thirty long years , were the industrious andBincere and public-spirited people of this country divided into Pittites and Foxites ; thus were they for those thirty years the sport of the aristocracy who employed these political impostors ; while every year of the thirty saw an addition to their burdens and a diminution of their liberties ! ! . '
In this state stood the factions in 1793 , when came the question of tear against the Republic of France . Pitt was , personally , decidedly opposed to tear . He had become Tory Minister . As such , he had established a Sinking Fund , and had adopted other measures for the reduction of the Debt , then amounting to two hundred millions . War was incompatible with Pitt ' s schemes of redaction . He was wholly opposed to it . But that portion of the aristocracy that supported him were for tear : for in
the continuance and sacoess of the French Republic they saw Parliamentary Reform ! and an end of their blessed system of rule !! The Foxite portion of the aristocracy , too , saw the common danger , and were as eager for war as the Tories . Understanding the grounds of Pitt ' s opposition to war , they went over , and joined the Pittite parly ; fobcing , absolutely fobcikg Pitt into war ; while they left Fox with a small party about him to carry on that constitutional opposition" necessary to amuse and deceive the people !
And thus the people of that day were amused and cheated ! The SHOY-HOY was there , to engage their attention , while " loans" were being made ; taxes laid on ; subsidies employed in purchasing victorias ; and the " dead weight" placed upon the nation ' s back . Fox performed his part ; and performed it well too . He was accounted %
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patriot ; a great statesman ; " the greatest , the most enlightened , and the moat disinterested friend of the people that ever existed in this country" I and it is common new to speak of him '" . as "the most illustrious statesman" ; while " the most illustr ious statesman" never did any thing for the country bat take its money from it I He was , as was said before , a sinecure placeman all his life and he left a wife and two children pensioned on the country for their lives ! He himself brought in a bill to enable Lord Gbenville , when First Lord of the Treasury , to hold his sinecure office of £ 4 , 000 a-year , as Auditor of the Exchequer ; thus making him auditor of his own accounts !! He was one of those who gave foreigners pensions under the crown , in violation of the'Act of
Settlement ; one of those who brought German troops , and stationed them all over the country ; one of those who greatly augmented all the salaries and allowances of the royal family ; one of those who made an attempt to get a law passed , which law would have brought the exciseman into private houses ; one of those , who , when they were driven from place and power , left behind them , as a legacy to the nation , ready drawn up , the first of those Acts by which the people of England were shut up in their houses from sun-set to sun rise ! and in virtue of which Acts , so many Irishmen were , for being out of their houses more than fifteen minutes at , a time , transported for seven tears ! and that , too , by MARTIAL AUTHORITY , —without Trial by Jury !
Such was the " patriotism" and " illustrious statesmanship" of SHOY-HOY Fox ! Turn we next to contemplate some parts of the conduct of a not less humbug in his day , Henby ( now Lord )
Brougham . We seize upon Brougham as an illustration of the mode in which the SHAM OPPOSITIONIST works , because the part Brougham played , in 1817 , when Lord Cochrake presented petitions from one-and-ahalf millions of people , praying for Universal Suffrage , Annual Parliaments , and the Ballot , as a means of effecting fiscal , economical , and social reforms , was analagous to that played by Roebuck , when three-and-a-half millions asked for the establishment of the self-same principles for the selfsame objects , in 1842 ! Roebuck was selected to be
the sneerer at , and damnifier , of the NATIONAL PETITION in May , 1842 , to serve the purposes of faction , and to disappoint the hopes of a patient and suffering people ! Brougham performed the like kind of service for the factions in 1817 ! Like Roebuck , Brougham had pretended to identify himself with the cause of the people . He had avowed himself *• a democrat . " He had tickled "the ears of the groundlings ; " he had acquired for himself the character of the people ' s friend ; and he used the power thus obtained to frustrate their efforts for justice and right !
It is not generally known that Brougham , at one time , publicly appeared as the advocate of Universal Sufrage and Annual Elections . Yet the fact is so . In the month of June , 1814 , Lord Cochrane was expected to be expelled from the House of Commons . He was member for Westminster . His expulsion , of conrse , would cause a vacancy for that then celebrated city . To obtain Cochrane ' s seat , was a point of ambition with Brougham : but he was distinctly given to understand that unless he declared explicitly for Universal Suffrage and
Annual Parliaments he would not have a shadow of a chance . To gain his seat Brougham made the declaration !! He had , Borne short time previously , in a paper which was printed , declared himself hostile to Annual Parliaments and Universal Suffrage ; but now ; now that the seat for Westminster was to be be gained ; now , that power as ah " OPPOSITIONIST" was to be acquired ; now , Bbougham swallowed his foimex •" hostility" arid declared in favour of Annual Elections ; and contended that the Elective Franchise suould be EXTENDED TO ALL W HO PAID TAXES ! !
When this vacancy for Westminster was expeoted , a meeting was called of the Livery of London , to which Brougham was invited . This meeting was for the purpose of getting Brougham afloat . At that meeting he made a speech ; in which he identified himself with the Radical Reformers and their principles . Mb dodge was seen through by some of the Radicals who remembered his former sayings . To fix him , if possible , they waited upon him with a report of hia speech , desiring him to correct it , if
it needed correction ; as they were anxious his real opinions should be knows . Brougham said that it would be as easy to write the speech jully out . They asked him " would he do bo V He engaged to do it ; and he WROTE IT OUT WITH HIS OWN HAND ! This speech , so written out ia his own hand , was kept by some persons of the Westminster Committee , as the pledge of Brougham's principles . This speech , so writtt « n , was in the following words * . —
" Mr . Brougham returned thav . ks , and said that the last time he had met the livery , two years ago , he had declined making professions or promises , because he saw them so eften broken ; but bad desired the Jivery , if it were worth their attention , to piark his conduct , and if he betrayed his declaration , to punish him next time they met , by drinking to the memory of his departed principles : —that time was now come , and he met them without any consciousness of having forfeited their favour . These two years had been pregnant with important events , and infinitely various aa these were they all agreed in this , that they had migttily redounded t « the honour of the cause , and the confirmation of our principles . The fandamental maxims of liberty had been Bolemnly recognized in the face of the world ,
THA . T A . LL POWER IS FROM THE PEOPLE ; and that they have a RIGHT TO CHOOSE THEIR GOVERNMENT , AND DISMISS THEIR RULEKS F © B MISCONDUCT . They had done bo in France , and it was a lesson that could not be forgotten in the rest of Europe . The saying that ' laws are silent in the midst of arms / had failed for once ; and this fundamental principle had triumphed over the triumphs of the allied armies . So much for the honour of tho cause . Bat the principles of reform bad been assisted also iu their progress . Where is now the gag , with which our mouths had , for five and twenty years , been stopped , as often as "WE have required that PARLIAMENTS SHOULD BE CHOSEN YEARLY , and that the
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE SHOULD BE EXTENDED TO ALL WHO PAY TAXES ? We have been desired to wait , for the enemy was at the gate , and ready to avail himself of the discords attending our political contests , in order to undermine our national independence . This argument is got © and our adversaries must now look for another . He had mentioned the two RADICAL doctrines of YEARLY ELECTIONS , and the franchise enjoyed BY ALL PAYING TAXES ; but it would be superfluous to reason in favour of them here , where ALL Were agreed upon the subject' However , as elsewhere they may speedily be discussed , he should take leave to suggest a fact , for
the use of such as might have occasion to defend their principles . It was one for the truth of which he might appeal to his honourable friend , the Member for Middlesex ( Mr . Byng ) who knew as well as he did , that there was a great improvement always observable in the conduct of the House of Commons , towards the last year of a Parliament : insomuch that he bad observed that more good uas done in that year , than in all the other Jive or six . The reason for all this he should not presume to state ; but some persons were of so suspicious a nature , as to insinuate , that it might be the knowledge of members , tbat at the end of that session they must meet their constituents , suoh of them as bad any , and give an
account of their trust He avowed that this fact bad been one of the chief grounds of his conviction of the expediency of YEARLY ELECTIONS j and if any one thought this unsafe , he should answer , that such frequent recurrence , and such extension of the franchise as should accompany it , is the best check upon public expence . If any other check was wanting , it might be provided also . He had talked of such members as had constituents , being reminded of it by the manner in v ? hick the toast bad been given out by mistake—he hoped not an ominous
one . It had been said , ' & full , fair , and free representation in Parliament / leaving out ' thepeople . ' Now , this is just what is done elsewhere . There is a full , fair , and free representation in Parliament , ' we need not drink to that There is a full representation of the Aristocracy— a fair representation of the landed interest —a free representation—a free ingress of the Court—but not much of the people—they are left out , as they were to-day . It must , however , be otherwise soon . While they BEAR THB BURDENS of the State , they must , as of tight , share in its government ; and to effect this Reform , all good men must unite . "
There ! That is pretty good for a SHOY-HOY See how glibly the " patriot" talks of the " WE have equited that Parliaments shoold be chosen freely , andt % tthe elective franchise should be extended to all who pay taxes" ! And yet the very
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man ( if he be worthy the name of man ) who put this down in Mb own handwriting , after having spoken it at the London Tavern—who put it into the hands of the people of Westminster as his political creed ; this SHOY-HOY , when he found that he could not get the seat for Westminster , turned short round upon the people ; and v in the year 1817 , about two years and a half after speaking and writing the above speebb , he abused all the leaders of the Reformers ; ho represented them as wretches that deserved chastisement of the severest kind ,
beoauae they were for what he called the » had scheme of Annual Parliaments and Universal Suffrage When Lord Cochrane offered to present to the House of Commons petitions signed by a million and a half of Englishmen , praying for a Radical Reform of the people ' s House , Brougham , the SHOY-HOY , almost led the way in having the ' petitions kicked out of theHouse I He sneered at the petitioners ; represented UniverSai . Suffrage and Annual Parliaments ( the very principles with whioh he had identified himself ) as "BIG
NOSTRUMS for LITTLE BLUNDERS" V He acted a part the most foul towards the Reformers . He affected to censure the Power-of-Imprisonment Bill , and the suspension of the Habeas Corpits Aot ; he spoke against the measures ; be voted against the measures ; but he took care that his " opposition ' should pass for nothing ! for ninetenths of hid speeches were either ridicule or abuse of the Reformers and their Leaders ! His trick consisted in representing the scheme of Reform prayed
for a& chimerical ; and to point out the Leaders as being most desperately wicked , and as deserving of any degree of puniahment ! The slanderer " opposed " the cruel and tyrannical measures of Castlereagh and Sidmouth in words ; but he had another parcel of words which tended to encourage the Government to pass and persevere in the measures ; and to induce all the rich , timid , and selfish part of the nation ; all the base , frivolous , and worthless men and women to applaud the very measures he affeoted to oppose !
Precisely suoh a SHOY-HOY is John Arthur Roebuck , as far as ho has the ability ! Precisely suoh part did he play on the presentation of the National Petition , signed by three-and-a-half millions of people ! "That extremely unwise ;"" that extremely foolish petition" ! " The trashy doctrine contained in the petition . " "Let it not be supposed THAT HE AGREED WITH ONE HUN ^ DREDTH PAELT of the doctrines of the petition" ! Suoh waii the mode adopted by this SHOY-HOY ; this SHAM FRIEND , to lei down the people and their cause . Surely there was reason why Sir
Robert Peel and the Tories , and Lord J . Russell , and ' . the Whigs , should reject the petition , when the naming Radical , the out-and-out Chartist , the ultra Democrat , Mr . Roebuck , could thus speak of it ! If its claims were suoh that he could not agree with a one hundredth part of them , surely they must be foolish and extravagant indeed ! Thus the SHOY-HOY opened the door for Lord J . Russell and Sir Robert Peel to thrust the claims of the people out of the House , and throw them slap bang again into the faces of the petitioners , as absurd and unreasonable ' -In the extreme 1 and thus Roebuck acted as all SHO Y-HOYS have ever done !
Roebuck is a " national faith" man . Roebuck , maugre all his M ultra" notions , is for wringing from the labour of the people £ 60 , 000 , 000 a-year , to pay the Interest of the Debt and the expences consequent on that Interest and Debt . Roebuck knows that the moment Universal Suffrage is established , that £ 60 , 000 , 000 will cease to be paid . Hence he is as fearful of Universal Suffrage as any Whig or Tory in . the House I and this is the case with every mother ' s son of the Malthusian
Opposition I They amuse the people by pretending to advocate their cause ; but they , one and all ,: take care to assist in the enactment of all measures intended to rivet the chains of Capital round the neck of Labour ; and in prostrating the energies of the people at the feet of " National Faith" ! Universal Suffrage would loose those chains , and set Labour free : hence Universal Suffrage is dreaded
by the MalthusiahB as the greatest calamity that could befal them ! This explains many portions of their conduct , otherwise inexplicablet The labourer will now see why they traduce , and vilify , and abuse , and DENOUNCE those leaders of the people who wiH not do SHOY-HOY work ! They cannot do with those who work in earnest ! None but SHAMS find favour in their sight : and these they cherish as the apple of their eye !!
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MR . R . K . PHILP ; HIS LETTER OF COMPLAINT : AND HIS FITNESS FOR
ELECTION ON THE PEOPLE'S EXECUTIVE . We have received a letter from this gentleman ; the publication of which he claims as as aii act of fairness . " It is pur unvarying rule never to furnish any man with just cause , or even a plausible pretext , for complaint . Our readers will therefore find the let ' . erof Mr . Philp in another column . But we cannot consent to forget entirely , however convenient to Mr . Philp it might befor us so to do , that some small modicum of " fairness" is also due to us . Mr .
Philp seems marvellously wishful to drag us into a quarrel . We shall not permit him to do so . We shall make just such and so many observations on his present letter as may suffice for the mere purposes of '' fairness , " and then leave the whole matter to the judgment of the people . The gist of Mr . Philp ' s letter is contained in the following extracts : — - " 1 have yet to complain of the disposition you evince iu the Star of each week , to create an unfavourable impression in the minds of the Chartist body respecting my acts . In your paper of the 28 th
of May , a note purporting to be from ^ the Bath Chartists , " asserts that Messrs . Vincent and Philp have created division , and formed another Society . 1 have denied this emphatically before , and regret again to be called upon to reiterate the denial . The division in Bath ( little though it be ) was not created by Vincent and Philp . * ? * I deny that any society has been formed in Bath by either Vincent or Philp , or any persons with whom we have connexion . Nor has any political society
that I know of , been receritlv formed , the origin of which may either directly or indirectly be attributed to us . We have opened a large and comfortable room , capable of accommodating 1 , 500 persona—it is lit with gas , and situate in the heart pf the city , and this is applied to the purposes of the National Charter Association ^ has a general council for its management , and is under the guidance of the English Executive—and I have the greatest reason to expect that ere long , it will render most essential service to our good caus « . "
We beg to tell Mr . Philp that when persons are so very sensitive about criticism , so very impatient of censure , and so very anxious about " fairness , " as he seems to be , the least that can be expected of them is that they should evince some little " fairness '' in their dealings with others—that they should not manufacture cause of complaint , by attributing to one party that which they know to have been done or said by other parties—that they should . not wilfully pervert the plain meaning of language for the purpose of raising a quibble upon whioh
a quarrelsome note may be sounded—that they should not , abeve all things , \ make ' an occasion for quarrel by censuring acts which they know to have never been done , and facts which they know to have no existence . ¦ . We scarcely opine that Mr . Philp will venture to designate any of these as " fair " practices ; and yet he has been guilty of all these practices , and to a great extent too , in the writing of this very plausible , but very dishonest and disingenuous letter ; Indeed , we need only the few lines we have quoted , to prove all that we here charge upon him .
Let it be observed ,, Mr . Philp's letter is not addressed to the Chartists of Bath ; It is addressed to the Editorof . the Northern Star whom he charges -with evincing "in the Star of each week , " a disposition to create an unfavourable impression in the minds of the Chartist body respecting his acts . Now what evidence does Mr . Philp ; adduce in support of this very serious charge against the Editor of the Northern Start DpeB he point to a succession of laboured vituperative editorial articles full of misrepresentations , misconstructions , and falsehoods respecting his acts ! This ia what of course he should have done after , if not before
making such a Etatement . But he does not do any such thing I and for the best reason in the worldhe cannot . He knows that ihe ^ Editor of the Northern Star has never spoken of him but in < respeotful and gentlemanly terms ; not even in reply to the coarse invective of the Vindicator . But by way of proving that the Editor of the Northern Star evinces .. •'• each week" a disposition to damage him , he cites a resolution of hia own neighbours , the Bath Chartists , and comments upon that as coming from the Editor of the Northern Star I He sinks the authors of the resolution entirely , and , assuming the statement of the resolution to be false , vents all
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his indignation on the Star , the Editor of which he affirms to evince H in the Star-ml - each week " a disposition to calumniate him . Here then is ample proof of two pf the very strong charger ' we' make against Mr . Philp ; of having , in this letter , charged upon one party that which he knew to have been said and done by another party j and' ot directing his censure against acts which he knew to have never been done and faots which he knew to nave no
existence . " , ... - ' . : ¦¦ ;¦;¦ :. ; ¦ - ¦" ; . ; : ;; ..:. ;¦ ' . :. ¦ / - - , : ¦ ¦; . ¦ ¦; . . ; ' , Because the Baft Chartists have said that which he affirms to be false , he accuses ^ he Northern Star of calumniating ^ im " each week "! Mr , Philp ia a great stickler for "the righta of the people' * and for the necessity of their haying an organ for the expression of their opinions j and yet he is angry with the Northern Star for giving expression to the resolution of a whole body of Chartists , because that resolution happens to be offensive to him 1 Because he chooses to assert the contrary of that which the Bath Chartists assert , we must not publish the resolution of the
Bath Chartists on pain of his displeasnre ! Just let any man look at the facts of this case . The Bath Chartists of No . 3 , Galloway ' s Buildings , send certain monies to the Convention Fund ; the sum was not so large as had been expected from them ; they state , by resolution , a reason why they had not contributed the whole sum expected from them ; they send this to the Northern Star for publication ; and because we publish it , Mr . Philp sends tbiB long , grave , objurgation , protesting against our practice of calumniating him " each week in the Star ''!' Was ever a more monstrous piece of dishonesty perpe trated 1 ' :.. .. ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦' - ¦ ¦ . ' ¦ ¦ " ¦ •• " ¦¦ ¦ ¦¦ "• • " ;¦ ¦ ¦' : ¦ : ' : :: ' - . . ' ..
But after all what does this letter of Mr . Philp ' s prove in reference to the facts in dispute between him and the Bath Chartists ; and which he has so dishonestly laboured to represent as a dispute between him and the Northern Star ? The Bath Chartists of No . 3 , Galloway ' s Buildings , say that they would have paid more money to the Convention , had they not been thinned as to numbers by Messrs Vincent and Philp starting another Bopiety . Mr . Philp denies this . He says : —
"I deny that any society has been formed in Bath by either Vincent or Philp , or any persons with whom we have connexion . Nor has any political society , that I know of , been recently formed , the origin of which may either directly or indirectly be attributed to us . " Now this is evidently intended to convey the idea that the assertion contained in the Bath Chartists' resolution is a falsehood . And yet Mr . Philp knows it is no such thing . He knows that the Bath ChartiBta ofNo . 3 , Galloway ' s Buildingshave stated nothing in this matter batthe truth ; andbis ownietter- ^ -thia
present letters-in the very next words after this denial confirms that truth . The facts of the case are simply thus . The Chartists of Bath are all membera of the National Charter Association of Great Britain . They have been accustomed to meet together in the large room , No . 3 , Galloway ' s Buildings . Some time ago , a quarrel oocurred among them about the part which Mr .: Philp and Mr . Vihcent and some other parties took in the Conferences and other meetings relative to . the Sturge move . Mr . Phujp and
some others then refused to meet any longer with some parties who were in the habit of frequenting No . 3 , Galloway ' s Buildings . They , therefore , went , and took a room of their own , and thus opened a new meeting place for Chartists . So that , in poiat of fact , there are now two distinct bodies of Chartists meeting in different parts of the city of Bath , whereas there was only one . Of this fact Mr Philp assures us in this letter ; for , in the very next words to those we last quoted , the says , —
"We have opened a large and comfortable room , capable of accommodating 1 , 500 persons—it is lit with gas , & . C . " "'¦ ' ¦ ,:: ¦' ' ]' , ' : ¦ .. ¦ ¦ . ' ¦ - . ' . ¦ ' ¦ ¦¦ : :.. ; .. This , those of the Chartists of Bath , who still meet at No . 3 , Galloway ' s Buildings , call the opening of another society by Mr . Phiip and his friends ; and we think they are right in thus calling it ; and w « feel quite sure that most other people will think so too : indeed we have no doubt that Mr . Philp would have perfectly concurred with them in this view of the matter , if it had not suited his purpose to raise a quibble on the meaning of the word
" society , " that he might beable to" deny" the statement of the resolution . He does not ** dens" that he has opened another place of meeting in Bath , but insists that he hasi not formed another society ; because the new room as well as the old one is " applied for the purposes of the National Charter Association , has a General Council for its management , and is under the guidance of the English Executive . " We never remember to have seen a more paltry quibble than this ; had the Bath Chartists said " another meeting" instead of " another Bociety , " Mr . Philp could have ho reply ; and
yet their meaning would have been precisely the same as it now is . They assign as their reason for not giving so much to the Convention fund as was expected , that there are not now so many of them as there were ; that a division has taken place ; that Messrs . Philp and others hare started another society ( using the word society to mean a body meeting ; in a room ); Mr . Philp confirms this by his own statement , and yet quibbles about the word society , for the purpose of " emphatically denying it" ! Mr . Philp may think this casuistry very clever ; we think it very disgraceful .,
But which of the two parties is in the right in this dispute about the meaning of the word society ! The Bath Chartists say that Mr . Philp and his friends have begun " another spoiety . " We say that they are right ; and that Mr . Philp in denying it exhibits not merely a dishonest , beoause a quibbling disposition , but the grossest ignorance of the constitution and organization of the National Charter Association , for the highest and most honourable of whose offices , he is how a candidate ; as well as the grossest ignorance of the law upon the subject of political societies . If Mr . Philp
does not know , there is not a Chartist in the United Kingdom who cannot tell him , that two distinct bodies of Chartists meeting in different rooms in different parts Of the ciiy of Bath are , to all intents and purposes , so far as the city of Bath is concerned , two societies . Mr . Philp speaks of his room , in the heart Of the city , being " applied to the purposes of the National Charter Association ; " of its having " a general council for its government , " and of its being " under the management of the English Executive , " as though the National Charter Association was a body- Uka the Methodist connection , or any other great body recognised by the law , and having a legal right to exist in divisions , sections , branches , and
compartments . He seems to have quite forgotten the UegaHty" mania which has but so reoentff passed over . He seems quite innocent of all knowledge of the fact that the country was p ^ t to the expence of a national delegate meeting ia Manchester for the very purpose of amending ana legalizing the 1 organization . Mr . Philp hay ^ bBen nearly twelve months on the Execntive Committeei and it would really seem , from this letter , that he has never read the plan of organization at all ' . If 18 had read it , he must have known that to talk cf * meeting room being applied to the purposes of the National Charter Association , is to talk nonsense * and much worse than nonsense ; he must have kao ^ that the National Charter Association has no
meetings , and therefore needs no meeting rooffls . that it exists only in ita officers and && * enrolled list of members , and that all the acts of the several Chartists ^ meeting in their resp «* i' 8 localities , are their own acts as individual Ctorastei and not as members , of the National Ctart « Association . This was most carefully ;* elaborately explained in the Northern Si * immediately after the amending ; of the P *» of orgahixatipn ; and we venture to hop © t »» there are few Chartists in the country ignprant of ¦
it besides .-Mr . Philp . : ¦' Then again what does Mr . Philp mean by .,. ¦« General CouHcil" ? He says his room in the heart of the city is applied to the purposes of the Nafapoaf Charter Association , and "has a General Counofl for its government . " How many General Coupons are there in the National Charter Association 1 Mr . Philp speaks of" o General Council" having the government of his meeting ; room , as : * F - ^ National Charter Assooiatioa might h avet-. nw
The Noethern Stae. Saturday, June 4, 1842.
THE NOETHERN STAE . SATURDAY , JUNE 4 , 1842 .
Mr. O'Brien And His "Vindication."
MR . O'BRIEN AND HIS "VINDICATION . "
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TO THE EDIT 9 R OF THE NOETHEa > ' STAR . Dba& Sib , —Having lately had fhe distinguished honour of proposing that noble advocate of the people ' s righi 3 , Feargus O'Connor , Esq ., as a fit and proper person to represent this borough in Parliament ; feeling great attachment to that gentleman for hi 3 services as well as to yourself , the Northern Star , and our organization , I do not know when I felt more hurt or angry than on reading one of the most uncalled-for , insulting , and villanou 3 attacks Bpon yourself and Mr . O'Connor that ever I read ; in a pamphlet , entitled " Mr . O'Brien's Vindication of his Conduct at the late Birmingham Conference "; I must say that I think this is one of the most Bcandalous attacks ; e&pecially after the resolution
passed , and the understanding batween all parties in the late Convention ! If . Mr . O'Brien ' s object be either to cause divisions , or to damn himself in the estimation of the people , he could not more effectually accomplish it b y any other means than those he employs . There is no man feels more sincere regard for Mr . O'Brien than myself ; but such conduct I must and will protest against and condemn . I have read every article in the Star in reference to the dispute , and while I have seen nothing but what was absolutely necessary for the information of the people , I have seen plenty of cause to- dispute , if not the sincerity at any rate the wisdom , of the policy pursued by O'Brien . WheD I find O'Connell , Lovett , and O'Brien , all acting together ; not only in res-J
pect to the Sturge 8 moTe , bat in opposition to O'Connor , -yourself , and oar paper ; whea I hear O'Connor telling O'Brien tp niaface before the whole Convention , that ha has been slandering him behind his back j and writing private letters to try to raise a feeling against him and yourielf ; and when I find Mr . O'Brien , after the resolution proposed by himBelf , now printing this pamphlet of abuse ; I say that when we find men thus striving to raise prejudice against our best friends and sowing discord in our ranks , there is eause to suspect that all is not quite right . If Mr . O'Brien desireB to retain either the respect or confidence of the people , he must act consistently ; he must keep himself above suspicion .
I can assure him that some of his very best iriends in this town have been exceedingly hurt at his conduct ; and his abase of O'Connor will not serve his cause . I believe the situation you fill as editor is attended with great difficulty to please all parties j and that it is the dnty of every lover of freedom to rally around , and give every possible support , not only to our glorion 3 Star , bnt to every man who is striving to free his country from that awful oppression under which the people suffer . Sincerely hoping you will still persevere in the course yon have taken , and that O'Brien will &f e ihe folly of his proceedings , and regain the confidence of the people , I remain your ' s , one of the trae supporters of the Star , until I see cause to condemn ,
John Allen , 34 . Upper Garden-street , Brighton , ilember of the General Council of the National Charter Association . Brighton , May , 29 , 1841 .
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THE STARVING POOR AND THEIR , COMPLAINTS . Elsewhere we give a report of a meeting holden at Clithero , to which we beg to direct the earnest attention of every one who sees this Paper . That report we give just as we received it . We do so , because we think it is important that the authorities and all concerned should have an opportunity of learning the feelings which actuate the minds of the starving labourers at
the manifold oppressions and privations they are compelled to endure . We implore attention to the document agreed upon by these twenty thousand starving operatives ! It is all-important . They speak warmly and bitterly : but a wise statesman will look below that , and seek out for , and remove the cause ! O ! that the earnest pleadings of suffering poverty with dominant wealth might have their desired effect I O 1 that th& ear of natural feeling was not closed by heaps oigold !
Let us not be mistaken . We do not agree with the whole of the proceedings of this important meeting . Judging from the report as sent to us , some speeches have been made and some expressions used that are calculated to damage the cause of those who made and used them . This is to be regretted . We can make all due allowance . We know , to some' extent , the sufferings the poor have to endure . We , dp not expect a starving man to measure his every word , aB if he were spinning silk . But there is a point which common ordinary prudence
says cannot be passed without inflicting defeat on one's own object ! That point we would implore the poor not to pass ! Do not put yourselves into the hands of your enemies . You are justified in speaking out loudly and boldly ; but empty threats do no good I Make thoso who maintain the present system to Aear your complaints ; but dp not run your necks into the halters they hold ready opened for you 1
Prudence is necessary , if patience be scouted . Look at the mischief done to our cause some eighteen months ago , by the empty vapouring and bombastic threats of noisy brawlers , who were found wanting when the time fixed by themselves for action came round ! Threatening is no sign of strength or courage . It is rather an evidence of weakness and cowardioe . Pym , Hampden , and Sidney did not threaten ; but they acted . Tell did not threaten ; but he acted . Threatening does
no good ; and the man who uses it is generally found in the back ground when his threats should be enforced ! Let us implore of the working people to reflect upon these things . We dp not prescribe that sort of patience to them which wonld bid them lie down and die ! But while we do not prescribe that sort of patience ; we do recommend pbudbnce ; and
more especially prudence in talk ! Sdfpreservation is the first law of nature : " but that law of nature does not exhbiit itself in unmeaning words . Scoutfromyou the BIG talkers Drag your suffering and endurlngs before the world ; compe * the attention of : the oppressor to your complaints ; use aU and every prudent means to get relief and redress ; but do not countenance BIG talk or empty threats f
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THE QUEEN SHOOTING . Another opportunity has been afforded for the exuberant loyalty of the supremely "loyal '' to boil over . Gad ! and they have laid it on thick ! / A young man , from some motive or other , draws a pistol from his pocket , and points it at the Queen ; but whether be fires it or no , is rather problematical : and whether , if he did fire , the weapon was
loaded with more than powder and wadding ,, none can as yet tell ¦ . ; yet , forthwith , a " complete sensation" is produced ! and the minds of the members of * the two HouseB" are so affected at the atrocity , that they cannot even pass that Tariff which is "to lower the price of provisions for the people , " but they forthwith adjourn to allow themselves time to cool !! Admirable and delicate
sensibilityV ' The two Houses" did not adjourn when the middle-plass-miscreanta rode down , and , with their newly ground sabres , slaughtered scores of women and children on the field of Petebloo ! Nor did they adjourn when Widow Ryan ' s son was sent " to meet his account * ' by Archdeacon Rider and his bloody man-butchers ! In these case 3 , the weapons were more than pointed at the victims that suffered : yet "the house" in one casethanked the MURDERERS 111 and in the other refused all redress !! But their feelings were so acted upon , because a foolish boy pointed a pistol at the Queen , ( and , as some say , fired it ) that they must needs adjourn to recover from the fright !! O ! what sensibility ' . " loyalUy"'can make us affect ! I '
The piutol , however , ftas been pointed «< the Queen ; and the perpetrator of the act is committed to Newgate on a charge of High-Treason . We wonder whether the factions will make him out to be a " rascally Chartist , " or not ! We have watched the " Establishment" pretty anxiously t » see what tone it took as io this point . So far , it has not attempted to connect the foolish youth with any political party . His lodgings and his boxes have been searched ; but no papers or documents of a political character have , as yet , been found
no , not even the Northern Star ! This ib consolatory ! Now-a-days it is the fashion to refer all the political mischief that is done throughout the country to the " inflammatory and incendiary Northern ' Star " ! and we were not quite sure , when we first heard of the foolish act of this very foolish boy , that some portion of the blame would not have been attempted to be laid at our door ; and , through us , at the door of the Chartists generally ! A charge of treason is no joke ! For pointing a pistol at the Queen , this young haram-scarum has got
himself in for it pretty considerably . He is committed for high treason ; and if found guilty , will be adjudged to be hanged by the neck till he be dead ; then to be beheaded ; and his body cut in four quarters , and disposed of , as the Queen shall direct ! It would have been a serious matter for us to have had to join him in his tribulation , had he turned out to have been a reader of the Northern Star ! By all that is sacred , we implore of all who read the Star never to think of pointing a pistol at the Queen ; or indeed at any one else , except in case of ael ^ defence !
Seriously , however ; what is the meaning of these attempted shootinga ? Ar « we tp have one a ^ year 1 Ia the ball to be kept going , both in France and England 1 If there be many more of them , they will lose their effect . People will begin to think that shooters at Kings and Queens are bad marksmen ; or that Royal personages live a charmed life One or two failures might do ; but for so manypeople will begin to think—it ' s all a hum !! Should that feeling possess folks , their "loyalty" will be damped ! We would strongly advise all concerned both in France in England , to have no more of these royal-personage shootings .
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_ 4 THE NORTHERN STAR . ^
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), June 4, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct433/page/4/
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