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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1842.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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A GREAT PUBLIC MEETING AT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION HALL , rAOL BORNV A great public meetina was held at the Nations ] Association Hall . Holbom , on Monday evening ; charge for admission , Id . At eight o'clock , about 1 , 500 persons were present ; and In accordance "with the announcement on the placards , Joseph Sturge was unanimously elected to preside , and took the chair amid great applause . Mr . StcruK ccmme = ced by stating that he tfss sensible of the kind feeling they had expressed towards him . seeing that he had so recently become a fellow-• worker with them in the great cause of politics ledcropUon . It Blight be asked why he was there at
all ss th ? presideEt of a mushroom association , while tte ^ e were othtrs who had devoted many years of their life to the advocacy of tbe principles of the Charter ? There were many who were more able , and many who hiil a better -claim ; but , by the advice of . the friends with whom be had conrcaunicated he bad taken his present responsibility , and would ecdeaTour to contend with the dificttltks which presented themselves , and create a firm urrion between the middle and wotkirg classes , bj which Tnt-SES aloE * they wonld be ensued rightly to settle the -qnt « iion . Hs migkt be asked why he did not join the Chartists sfc once ? He was one of th-sts vrho cared l : t : le for "the Dames of political associations any more than for those of religious denominations . He had fromd amongst many of biB own clas 3 a prejudice
agticst the Charter ; they were alarmed at the mention of it . &nri would not listen to reaso \ Euc if he . could get thtia to adait oae point , he thor . ght he could gradually bring -them to the consideration of the other five . The retrospect of th ? past showed tLat he had not laboured in vain . Mr . Sturge then went inta details of the elections at Nottingham , Southampton , and Ipswich , and * : ated that if theR-sading election had been proceeded with fee bad no doubt they would have polled a msjority of the votes . Mr . S . then alluded to the recent £ tr ke in the North . He wa 3 satisfied that it had not t-iktn its rise in political motives , but had been brought
-on Vy the destitution of the people . The people hid , in his i . pi . ion , condnsted themselves well amidst the excitnierA existing , and from what he knew of his own district , he was convinced they would meet quietly and peaceably , if not interfered with ; but if the police and military were sent amon ? st them to exasperate them , the cousequences might be dreadful . Mr . Starge then dtalt out some hard hita at the Etate church , -and concluded by Eta ling that he wished to see the military poorer . 1 shield and protection to the wei-k , and not aa instrument of tyranny ia the hands of the powerful —< gr&a : cheering ; . Mr . Elx moved the following resolution : —
" That the proceedings of the House of Commons < 3 njiag the past Session incontcstibly prove that that Houss has no sympithy with , an-1 does not in any manner represent , the filings of the people ot this country ; for , in spits of the decay of trade , and the wide-spread destitution of the operative classes , which were made minifeat to the House by the most authentic and fearful evidence , its Members have nevertheless retired to thtir amusements and country sports without taking one decided Etep to alleviate the misery , the existence of wiiich they have been compelled to acfcDU ^ lrdge . "
asd d ^ tlt with much energy upon the incapacity the prest-r-t Givernmtot to do aught fur the brnt £ t of tbe people , and also of their resort to the miserable expedient tf a Qa = tn ' s becking letter . Mr . Phil ? seconded toe resolution . James PtiRCE Eali > g , ef the Inner TeiEple , in an eloquent manner supported the resolution which wa * carririi unanimously , ilr . John Du . ncan moved the next resolution : " That the facts fiffirmel in the foregoing resolution , added to a long experience of similar injustice . ' ere sufficient to convince the people that the great vice of < mr inEtuu-. ions is class legislation , or the legislation of the few for the few ; and , in the opinion of this meeting , the only effective remedy for class legislation is to j ; iT 9 to tvery man a direct control over the making - of tfcose'la ^ s which affect his social happiness and mor&l Trcil-btLn ? . "
Mr . D . entered into a long and able esposs of the funding t ^ tem , and of the various encrcachmtnts which the rniers of this country had made upon the natural and unalienable rights of the people . Mr . Charles Westeeton , in his usual eloquent manner exposed the hideous deformity of the monster , class " legislation , and stated his fervent hope and belief . that if they would but throw aside thtir sectional difference , the day was no ; far distant when , amidst the triumphant ^ cclammation 3 of the country , the Crartfcr t : u ' . d be proclaimed the law of the land— and freed ; in , hTospfrriij , and bappinefs , smile upon the couctry . -. Great c-cerisg . j The resolution was carried Bnanimonily . Mr . J . H . Pahht moved the third
resolution" Tir . it whii ' . t-is raveling , thercforo , views with high sat—' scucu the rtsalta of tee contests -entered into r . y > lr . S . nrge a " . N- 'ttinsham , and ilr . Vincent at Ipswich , on Lbc j . r . ucipies of Cjtaylvic Suffrage , they earnestly Cill up ^ n ad true Kctoimers . to promote "tie cordial union of ihe n , ii : ii 3 e and wrrkicg classes , without which it is Ji :: pafr . ble tffectualiy to contend against uur power u :, sz . ti ' z . and sordid aristocracy , tut with which the f / . a :. t tvii tf class Iegiil 3 tion wauld be speedily annihilated . "
The sper _ tr , in a very effective and telling address , deeisJed his deiermication to stand by tLe document called the Charter , and to be content with nothing Ies 3 th 3 D the whole Chrsrtfr . ; but , at the saie time , he was wiiiirg to co-optrrate with any body of his fellowmen , whu Trers ecga ^ ed in any strnggle having fur its oljrct the amelioration of the condition of the human race . Ke wssa member cf the Nauonsl Charter Ats > cistion—of the body to whom the Hail in which they roe ! belonged , ana likewise of the Complete Suff . age Union . Tn ? o' j ; c ' . of the Cempkte Si . ff .-age pir- > " was t C'jtc'lir . te aiid gain the co-cptration of the middle cla ? s : tt ' .-y did mt wish to destroy or injure the Charter Ai 3- 'ciatiic . The working men had never deeeite-i thtir r-rincicles , even in the most danserous
times ; and he v ^ ls convinced they wc-u . d desert tbtirs lio - ? , w > . cr . the b ' -nr of their succtss was at hand , tut would pursu ; tbrir object with increased r-crse-Teram ?; and energy . Tne man who was continually denf u-sting the middle c '; a = s was a traitor to the cause cf iliriii' .-cracy . Gzd forbid that h-j should attempt to divide the two classes ; it was only by a union of them thit a bloodless revjlution could be effee'ed . ilr . Parry tten rr . ' erred lo the social war ifor so it might be tf-m ; rd , ix ' sth-g in : he North and Midland counties . M&dv « : aiidfrifendi \ . f peace , law , and order—many venerable oiti ladies and venerable men were tfrairi that this , W their views , avtfulinsurrection , wouldicjcre the cause of yeacrf ^ i refor m . He was well assured that such a movement would rever irijure their ho ! y cause . Nrver in the annals of British history had thtre t-een a movcErst u : ore ca ' . culattd to do honour to the working classes ; tber ^ ha " 1 , been nu . ir-nker . r . sss . no violence .
save on me part of the Government . They had eon ' uc " . ei then . silves as m ^ n who felt they were detply injure . 1 , and -who Wrre dererained to elevate themselves ir . to their proper poiition in society ; they mi ^ fct , r . ot bs . T- taktn the best citans to achieve this ctj : it , tut coa- ' . ed en as they were by misery and distrtis . tiifT hid tiik ^ n a noble petition a *; d Lave dared to maintain i :. Kven those papers which pandered to every cwr-ption in Caorch and Sute , with ertry desire to hound on the middle sgainsi the working classes , had fr . iled in giving any colcuring to the c : mdect of these trgKged in the tarn-out which did not Tifljct credit npon thrin . 2 > 1 t . P . then went on to thow ihat it was only Vy apptalirg » o tb-i Ttais of the upper c / tise ? t £ a : 3 cy measure of justice ccnld be obtained . In concluiion he called upon them to unite and bio ' , froir . tie page of history the name of bcth tyrant and siave— - ^ reat cheerine . )
Mr . Lovett seemded the resolution ; and stated that tis deiEiuon cf Complete Suffrite was to be found in ths People ' s Cbarirr . liuch prrjidice h ^ ti tee n ethibit-ed ag' : init the la ^ t Conferencs t-ecausa thry h ^ d not adopted the hie ; t-f the CtarUr . Siav . y of the delegatts sent to that a .- £ e ! nbiy were elected culy to consider tht : point u : the suffrsie ; ethers wcie prejudiced aiiinf . tie Mse of tbe Ccurter on r . ciount of the Violc-t c- " > n ^ . c : t of susne of its advocates ; r . nd othersttrani- 'e as it mkht lipptar—h : v \ net . tv ^ n r = ad that docmneLtt . Th . fc c £ . culLits in which soiue of the delegates T ' . re p .-iC-e " . i rec ! n-.: e . ; th ir having Er £ : ient time to enter ii . xo til the cetai ' s cf tc- suVjrc ; ; and they
separate w :: h a deternuzsuon to call aucther conference : and he h-. d no doubt that any co : Jertnce fairly ehosen ¦ Bhica niitbt now be called wou ! j adopt the whole t-f the dt tails of the Charter . They had met much c : - rposition ; but notwithstanding this they had succeeded fctyond their exptct-tions . The Whigs a ^ d the Tories might for a time , by the aid of the military and p ' . 'iico , succeed in embarrassing the present movement , but ult'mately they must succeed ; and the bullying of -ihe Times , or toe braying of the" Hera ! d , would no more retard them than the attempt of Mother Partingtcn to step the progress of the ocean with her mop . ( Liusbttr . i
Mr . \ incest mpported tho resolution in a long and eleqnen : addresa , which was greeted throughout with tbe niest enthusiastic applause . During his address he stated that the gT 3 at object of the Complete Suffrage Union was to prepare for electoral battles in faTour of the people ' s g . imm . if the machinery ¦ was properly orginiaed , they at the very next election would have such a baud of sturdy obstructives in the House of Commons as wonld defy ssy business to be transacted until the people ' s just rights were granted . He trusted they would not allow the occurrences in the North to intimidate them . He hoped they would not stand by in apathy , because a few persons , misconstruing their motives , had
denounced them . la his heart's deepest core he veneatfcd the name of the People ' a Charter ; he had not a drop of b ' . oo I in his Ttins which did not boil with jLTntur in the cause of democracy—itremeudong chetring . ) He trusted that meeting would be an earnest cf & better feeling that they should have touched the string to arouse London from its slumbers , and ibsJL it would stand forth in ita power and intellect , and never cease to battle with corruption until the phyeki ] , moral , and intellectual rights of the people were gristed them by 3 wise and a good government . The TrsoiQ ' . ion waa then pasted ; and after a vole of tb * tts had bten moved by Mr . Parry , and seconded by Air . Cimpbtll , to the Chairman , the meeting disjolTed—it being Mar twelve o * cU « k
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TO THE EDITOS OF THE 50 RTHERN STAB . ] Dear Sir , —I have received the purport of tbi > communication from s collier , from Clay Cross , ejid they wish it ta appear in the Northern Star . Belper , August 30 , 1842 . Sir , —Several false statements having appeared in the Derbyshire Courier regarding cur wages and the conduct of Mr . Arthur O'Neil , wh « n with as a fortnight age , we feel it our duty to underceive the public by giving the following true statement : — It was stated in the Courier that 'we , the colliers of
Clay Cross , were getting -is . per day ; whereas , numbering , as we nearly do , 300 men , we do not average more than is . 6 d . per day , working fourteen hours to the day , and are subject to stoppages out of the Ss 6 d . for candles , tools , &c . The Courier says Mr . O'Neil visited Clay Cross last week , and appeared as a flare-up teetotaller ; but finding total abstinence did not take well among the people , he quietly put it on the shelf , and advised the colliers to demand of their employers two quarts of ale per day . Let the narrators thereof blush , for it is a lie
It is customary in Staffordshire for the men to have allowed them one or two quarts of ale per day ; and their prices are better for their work : therefore , Mr . O'Xeil ad vised the men , that if they struck for an advance of wages , that , instead of having the ale , to have the value thereof in money , as , according to his opinion as a consistent teetotaller , it would do them more good . The Courier also states that CTNeil , the demagogue , was too good a judge to mention it to Mr . Binns , the agent ; but O'Xeil did mention it in his presence , and confuted every argument that Mr , Binns brought forward . This , like the others , is false . Yours , &e . J . YlCKERS . day Cross Colliery , August 20 , 1612 .
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TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN STAR . SIR , —Will you allow me a corner in your columns to acknowledge the receipt of 5 s . from Mr . Jones , of Newport , Salop , for Mason's and his fellow-prisoners ' Defence Fund , and to inform the Committee for the management cf the above fund that I divided it amongst the three that emerged from the dungeon ' s gloom on Saturday last , whose term of imprisonment bad expired , and who left the gaol without food or any money , and had to travel twenty-two miles to reach home ? By doing which , you will oblige , Yeurs , respectfully , WILLIA 3 I PJEPLOW . Friar-street , Stafford , Auz . 29 th , 18-42 .
P . S . I hope the country will not forget Mr . Mason . From the want of a regular supply of funds to purchase food for him , he was about to be thrown on the gael diet last week ; it was served out to him , but his stomach teas ss treak thai he could not touch it One of the Mr . Ciswell's , who left prison last week , stated it as his opinion that if Mason was put on gaol diet , he could not live his time out Shall such a man as Mason be lost ? Chsrtists , answer !
W . P . Mason ' s and others' Defence Fund . —The following subscriptions have been received by Mr . Samuel Cook , of Dudley : — £ s . d . Aug . 10 Bensington-on-Thames 0 7 0 16 Redditch 0 6 0 17 Cheltenham , after sermon ... 100 IS Clitheroe ... 0 2 1 19 Abergavenny ... ... ... 0 8 6 20 Northampton ... 040 2-2 Greenock 0 IS 0 21 Stockingfield , Nuneaton 0 1 0 29 Kingswood , Bristol 0 2 6
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THE LEAGUE PLOT . WHO IS THE COWARD ? It is now well understood by the whole country , who it i 3 that have the rare merit of having planned and originated the late " risings" and "riots . " Ask the question where you may , and the same answer i 3 returned . Indeed it could not be otherwise . The evidence we hare brought to bear on the point bas " settled the question . " There is no possibility of shaking it . Wriggle as the League may under the exposure , they cannot wriggle out
of it ! There it \ s , J : xcd upon them , beyond the possibility of mistake ! Never forget that their ovm crgan , the Sunday Times , openly avowed that " the plan of shutting up all the mills in one day originated with him ; and that the Lragce considered THE QUESTION AGAIN AND AGAIN" ! and never forget that their crack man , their hired creature , declared that " the object of the League ' s Conference meeting in London was to consider the propriety ofstopping all the mills in one day ; a . vd tiiet wocld do it" ! Never forget thess things ; and never cease to call for justice upon the inciter to rebellion ; the concoctors of " risings" and ' riots ; " the getters-up of the plot , the carrying
out of which has cost life ; has caused the people to be shot down like mad-dogs ; to be ridden over , and sabered ; to be bludgeoned and brutally maltreated by ferocious and blood-heated police and " specials ; ' to be " committed to take their trials' ' by thousands ; and to be sentenced to long periods of imprisonment and transportation ! xsever cease to call for justice upon the authors of all this mischief and evil . Never cease to demand that the poor " rioters" shall not , be the only persons prosecuted , and made to bear the whole burden of punishment . Demand that the League-men have their fair share . Demand jcstice for them ; and never cease that demand till jvstics be fully satisfied !
Were there any link deficient in the chain of evidence to connect the League with the concoction and origin of the " risings" and the " riots , " it is haply supplied by oue of themselves . It happens that th ; Te is no such deficiency . The chain of evidence is whole and perfect . Therefore whatever is now let out of the bag csn only come as corroboration of that which is already established . In this light do we view the publio testimony borne to the fact of the League-origin of the riots" by one of their own hired advocates . We give it here only as testimony beating out the conclusive evidence we have before addaced . In the Times of MoLday we find the following account of a meeting held in the Carpenter's Hall on Saturday last . It is headed : —
" CAUSE OF THE RECENT DISTURBANCES . " This evening , at six clock , the doors cf the Carpenters' Hall were opened for a public meeting to be held within its walls , at which it was announced a lecture wonld be delivered by a late member of the anti-Corn Law League , on the origin , cause , and progress of the late insurrection ; and it would be proved that the League were the cans © of it , " When the door wa » opened only about twenty
people entered the room , and it was some time before that number was increased at all . About half an hour after the time announced the lecturer ascended the platform , and then probably about 10 o persons were present . Towards the close cf the lecture , however , that numbar had increased considerably , by the arrival of several members of the anti-Corn Law League , and amoEgst thtm , as we understood , the Secretary of that body .
" The lecturer proposed that Mr . Smith , a working man , should take the chair . ' The Chairman said , as he knew nothing of the meeting , he should merely call on Mr . Duffey to deliver his lecture . " Duffey then presented himself to the meeting , and spoke fer upwards of an hour , during which time he was heard with great attention . His speech was principally confined to abuse of the manufacturers and millowners and the Anti-Corn Law League . The former he accused of having reduced the wages of the workmen full 40 per cent , and the latter with being the cause of the present outbreak , in consequence of compelling their
men to leave their work , having previously counselled them to adopt that course . The working classes had been tossed about between the two parties , and each in their turn bad bid for their support ; bat now the League had thrown them overboard and declared they would carry the repeal of the corn laws by agitation among the middle classes only . The Morning Chronicle and . other Liberal papers had been lately reporting the dally meetings of the Anti-Corn Law Conferenee , and what was the result of these meetings ? Why , what they predicted tad come to pass , because
they had the power to bring it about They said they would reduce the wages of their hands until they had not enough to liTe on , and then they would cry out for a repeal of the corn laws ; and Mr . Sharp , of the firm of Sharp , Roberts , & Co ,, bad said that they would reduce the wsges of their men twenty per cent Mr . Coappell had also said if the Corn Laws were not repealed , they the ( League ) would stop all their mills and leave the men to their own resources . He said he know an instance where one large manufacturer , had , during the last six months , reduced his hands to the
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extf jit of 10 s . per week ; and when ; aafced the reason why bo did so , said , it was because tho Corn Laws were not repealed , and because Parliament would not listen to the demands of the Corn Law Conference . He asked whether there were any present who had been compelled to become members of the Anti-Corn Law League , and who had had Id . per week deducted from their wages to pay for their card of admission ? ( A number of voices called out " Yes , yes . " ) He next condemned the conduct of those magistrates who were members of the Anti-Corn Law League who had taken part in suppressing the meeting of delegates held in that Hall—a meeting which he contended was as legally constituted as the Corn Law Conference In London . No longer ago
than the 16 th of July , Mr . J . Brookes , one of the magistrates who had signed the proclamation againBt the Trades' Delegates Meeting , had at a meeting of the Corn Law League proposed the following resolution : That , believing this country to be on the eve of a revolution , and being utterly without hope that the Legislature will accord justice to the starring millions , a requisition be forthwith prepared , signed , and forwarded to the Members for this Borough , calling npon them , in conjunction with other Liberal Members , to offer every possible opposition to the taxing of a prostrate people , for the purpose of a bread-taxing aristocracy , by argument and other constitutional impediments , that THE WHEELS OF GOVERNMENT MAY BE AURESTED , through the rejection or prevention of all votes of supply . ' This he contended was advising a Revolution ; and whilBt the supporters of that Revolution were
allowed to escape , it was unjust to punish the poor men who were now in custody . Further , Mr . Cobden had said , as there was no chance of stopping the supplies by a vote of the House of Commons , there was a way of doing it , and that was by suspending labour . The working classes were only carrying out that recom mendation , and now the members of the League turned round on them and prosecuted them . The speaker then entered at length into a declatmtion against the Anti-Corn Law League for having foreed the people to turn out from their work , and then deserting them in the hour of danger , and concluded by calling on the working classes to subscribe , if even one farthing each , for the prosecution of those magistrates who had broken in upon and dispersed a meeting which was as legally constituted as the meeting of the Anti-Corn Law Association held on Thursday lait
" A person named Michael Donahoe then stood forward and accused Duffey of being in ths service of the Tories . He had sold or offered himself to all parties . He cantioned the Chartists against him , lest they should be deceived and misled by him . He had himself presided at a teetotal meeting , where Duffey had publicly signed the pledge , and a guinea was collected for him to deliver a lecture on drunkenness ; but next day be had gone and spent the guinea in getting intoxicated and violating his pledge . He bad also offered himself to the League as a lecturer , and had been paid 10 s . 6 d . to give a lecture against the Corn Laws In Stockport . The speaker entered into a long list of charges against the lecturer , and concluded by calling on the latter to disprove them .
" Duffey said bo many charges had been made against him , tbat he hardly knew where to begin , and he must be brief , as the room must be at liberty for another purpose by eight o ' clock ; but , on Monday evening , he would b 6 prepared te prove the charges he had made against the League , and disprove those against himself . As to the one about his signing the teetotal pledge , that was a lie . ( Cheers and uproar . ) It had also been said that he bad been paid to go to Stockport to lecture—that was a lie . " Here the meeting became so uproarious , by the clamour of the friends of the two speakers , that the Chairman deemed it right to dissolve the meeting , and it was with some difficulty the contending parties were prevented from settling their dispute by a recourse to personal violence . " The same journal , the Times , of Wednesday , has the following report of the adjourned meeting : —
" Last night ( Monday ) a meeting was held at Carpenters ' -hall , by adjournment from Saturday , to hear the defence of Duffey , the lecturer against the anti-Corn Law League , to certain charges made against him by a person named Donahoe , who spoke to the meeting at the conclusion of the lecture . Some misapprehension occurred respecting the hour of meeting ; in consequence of which a number of people who assembled about the doors of the Hall at six o'clock , were compelled to wait until eight At that hour the doors were opened , and a large crowd rushed Into the room , many of them passing the door-keepers , without paying the usual admission fee . During the meeting probably 400 or 500 persons were in the room , mostly working men ; and as some apprehensions were entertained that the public psace might be Interrupted , it was deemed necessary to have a body of the police force in the neighbourhood , to act , should their services be required .
" When Duffey appeared on the platform , It appeared evident that a msjo : ity of the meeting were unfriendly to him , and his reception was by no means nattering . He said that was an adjourned meeting from Saturday evening ; and as the person who occupied the chuir on that occasion could not conveniently attend , he begged to propose that Mr . John M'Clellan chould fill his place . " The Chairman said , he hoped the lecture of Mr . Duffey would be listened to without interruption , and be pledged himself , at the conclusion , any questions which might be asked the lecturer should be answered , or any one who wished should be allowed to address the meeting on subjects relevant to the lecture . ( Cheers and hooting . )
" Duffey then proceeded to address the meeting , and after aome preliminary observations , he said , be bad been cautioned not to appear that night , for if he did his life would be endangered . iHooting . ) This threat was held out in order to prevent his appearing to prove his charges against the Anti Corn Law League . ( Uproar . ) But like a true Irishman , who never turned his back on either friend or foe , he was there at his post . " [ The meeting here became so disorderly tbat the speaker could not be heard for some time , and it was only by the entreaty of Donahoe that order was In some measure restore *! ]
" Duffey then , with difficulty , was heard for about half an hour , during which time he reiterated his charges against the Anti-Corn Law League of being the authors of the pr ( sent movement , in consequence of having forced their workpeople to turn out , in pursuance of a threat made by the millowners at the Corn Law Conference in London ; and for doing that be was threatened with personal violence . But , although they might assassinate , they should never intimidate him . So long ago as the 5 th cf May he said the same thing . He then stated that the mlliowners would compel the working men to a general turn-out , and on that occasion
Mr . John Broeks , one of the magistrates , stood behind him , applauded what he said , and called it a very clever speech . But the moment the suggestions * f the League were carried out , the members of the League placed themselves at the head of the military force , put down the legally censtituted meetings of the people , and attempted , by a parade of their power to intimidate tha working people , and to prevent their meetings . He was not there to quarrel with Mr . Donahoe ; his charge was against the League . He was prepared to meet them , and prove the charge he had made : but they were reduced to the necessity of sending their paid agent , Big Mick' to defend them—( confusion . )
" Michael Donaaoe said , he was not a paid agent of the League , he was not even a member of it He was connected with the Anti-Corn Law Association as their collector , a station bis opponent was not thought fit to fill . ( Cheers . ) " Some further confusion and disorder here took place , It having been arranged that each party should address the meeting for calf on hour , in consequence of the Chairman deciding tbat Daffey had a right then to speak for half an hoar . The meeting refused to hear Daffey , and overruled the decision of the chair . After some discussion ,
" Dohahoe proceeded to address tha meeting , and continued his speech for half an hour , making several charges against Duff = y , rtfl-cting on his character , stating that he was now the paid agent of the Toriesthat the placards calling the meeting were printed at the Chronicle-o&cB , and that he was no longer in the Repeal Association , nor fit to be trusted by the Chartists ; the latter body the speaker cautioned against being deluded by Duffey , who bad already betrayed th&m , " The rest of the evening was spent in crimination and recrimination between the two parties and their supporters on each aids , and the meeting ended In a scene of most admired uproar , and at near midnight " A large body of police were in attendance to prevent outrage , bat tbeir services were not required . "
Now this Dcffet we believe to be as great a ragcal as ever drew breath . Ipdeed , had he not been such , he never would have sold himself , as he did , to the ser ? ice of the League-men . None but a scamp would take their blood-stained coin , to do his uttermost to persuade the working men te quietly allow the steam giants to fetter labour's hands , and take away labour's last crust . But Dpffey is no greater a scamp than the rest of his late comrogues . He is as good as the rest . He and they may have quarrelled , —possibly about the division of the spoil . He and they may have fallen oat : but what of that 1 It will not do for those who are as bad as Duttey to denounce him as a bad man . He is as good as
Wabbbn , or Acland . His services have been deemed worth the purchase . He has had the League's money for doing the League's work . He knows what was the work they set him to do ! He and John Bbooks—( the busy magistrate in putting down the rising 9 " and " riots" )—seem to have well understood each other ! He is in for the secret . He blabs it . He openly discloses it . He proclaims in open day what was the object of himself and bis confederated compeers . He tells us that that object was to cause the Turn-oat . " He tells us the modus operandi was the lowering of wages ! He charges npon his late associates , whose secrets he knows ; whose meetings he has attended ; whose plans he is in possession of ; whose objects he has
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endeavoured to accomplish : he tells these , his associates , that they alone are guilty of causing Jail the " risings" and the " riots j" and alone aught to be answerable for the consequences resulting M We believe him . It is , we know , the evidence of a scoundrel ; but the proof does not rest with him . The facts he deposes to are established by other and less impeachable testimony . He is only a witness in corroboration . As such he is valuable . Let ns wait and see what answer the League can give to him !
We have been waiting , anxiously , to see what answer they could give to US . We have fixed the originating of the " riots" upon them . We have adduced unmistakeable and conclusive evidence to prove that they " considered the proposition again and again . " We have Bhewn that they acted on the plan laid down . We have shewn that all the efforts of their writers in the Press , ever since the rejection of the Whigs from office , has been to cause Confusion and Revolution . We have shewn that the Globe announced that the battle-cry was to be
" bread or blood" ! We have shown that the Morning Chronicle talked of BARRICADES being erected to defeat Sir Robebt Peel and his Budget , and to carry the Whig one . We have shown that the Sun talked of " the carrying op LADIES' HEADS on poles , or trailing them in the dirt . "I I We have shown that the Leagued Daily Bread Men tried to get the people to join in what they themselves openly announced as " an organised plan to break the law" ! We have shown that the Leaguer ' s
Conference openly declared they would " pay no taxes" ! We have shown that one of their members suggested "the appointment of a Committee of Publio Safety" , after he had talked of probable " risings " and " riots . " We have shown that the plan of " striking work for one month" was openly proposed in that same Conference . We have shown that an Alderman of Manchester , a leading member of the League , openly declared that "the only plan
left the manufacturers" whereby they could force their measure , " was to stop their factories . " We have shown all these things , weeks ago : and we have also shown how the Weekly . Chronicle tried to incite to incendiarism in the depth of last winter . We have shown these things : and how have we been answered ? By indignant denials of the facts we adduced ? Not !! By silence ! The Globe has not denied the
u Bread or Blood " change . The Chronicle has not denied the BARRICADES charge . The Sun has not ventared to deny his atrocious and miscreant-like suggestions respect" LADIES HEADS on poles" ! The League have not denied the suggested appointment of " a Commil tee of Public Safety" ! Tho Weekly Chronicle has not denied his dastardly incitements to incendiarism , through his
placard-dodge ! On the contrary , Tie acknowledges it !!! and only says he has not done as much in that way as we have ; a gratuitous and unsupported assertion , which we make him a present of back again ! The Alderman has not denied his suggested stopping of the mills . The League have not denied the assertion of their own organ , " that they considered the proposition again and again" ! The
employment of six delegates by the factory-masters and shopkeepers of Ashton-under-Line , to go to other towns to get the work-people to join the 11 STniKE , " just then and there commenced , has not been denied ! Indeed these things cannot be denied . They are damning facts , which fix the concoction and planning of the plot ( which has sent thousands to prison ) upon the League-men and their adherents , beyond the possibility of being gainsayed !
Again we reiterate our demand for j ustice upon the authors of the " riots" ! Again we demand that the poor shall not be the only ones " committed to take their trial" !! The League plotted the " riots . " The League plotted the " Strike . " The League determined on the closing of the Mills . The League determined to reduce wages , and force the men out . The League hired men , Duffey for instance , to prepare the way . He could speak of the " mill-closing business" before John Brooks , the Magistrate ; and be applauded for his clever speech ! The League
did it all ! and when it was done ; when the people were out ; when they were " rising" ; when they were " rioting" ; when they were doing tho work the League wanted doing ; when the people were doing these things , where were the members of the League ? Where was John Brooks , who had applauded Duffey , and who had proposed that "THE WHEELS OF GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE ARRESTED" ? Where was Dickey Cobden who had proposed " a suspension of labour" to stop the supplies ? Where was Alderman Chappel , who had declared that " the only plan
left was to stop the factories' 1 Where was Master Week ly Chronicle with his incitements to "SWING" ? Where was the cowardly dastard of the Sun , with his " LADIES' HEADS on poles ' ? Where was the Chronicle with his BARRICADES ? Where were one and all of these 1 At " the head of the movement" ? Taking paxt with " the mob" ? Leading them on ! Acting as Generals ? No ! They were engaged in lotting loose the military to shoot and sabre those that had " risen" ! They were engaged in hounding on the butchers and the brutal bludgeon
men ! They were engaged in " committing to take their trials" those brought before them , as magistrates , charged with having " rioted . " They were engaged in getting up and in circulating charges of cowardice ! -against whom in God's name ? Against Feargus O'Connor !!! ! Because Mr . O'Connor did not prove himself a silly ass , and fall into the trap they had so nicely laid for him , they charged him with cowardice ! The men who had conoooted the plot , and who ought to have conducted their own work in its execution , charged O'Connor with cowardice because he would not do it for them
while they waited with the law in their hands to lay him by the heels if he should have done so !! The whole Whig press has rung with the charge . They have harped upon it again and again . Old Bloody , too , has joined in it . The ball has been kept going amongst them f ° the whole of the last fortnight . Every one who ought to have been" at the head of the movement" seems to have thought
it sufficient to screen himself from a charge of cowardice , if he preferred one against O'Connor . True , none of them shewed why O'Connor " ought to have taken the lead . " True , none of them even attempted to do this . But they , one and all , seem to have taken it for granted that wherever there is a mess , no matter by whomsoever cooked , O ' Connor ought to jump slap up to the neck into it ; and that if he " looks before he leaps" he is a " coward /"
This from the Whig and Tory press , was to be expected . It was no more than we had a right to look for . It is ever the practice of faction to take advantage of popular excitement to throw suspicion upon the people ' s leaders , if the people ' s leaders evince commonlprudence , and will not throw themselves , neck and crop , into the arms of their enemies . It has ever been so . When Hunt attended the Peterloo MASSACRE-meeting , and when his life was compassed , and the plot only defeated by his own
presence of mind and great physical energy , he was accused of cowardice because he had not advised the people to come armed , and meet force by force He was accused of cowardice , because he would not counsel and commit an overt act of treason , so that his accusers might have had the high gratification of seeing his head roll from the scaffold , and the pure purple life-stream spurt from his headless trunk ! He was accused of cowardice because he defeated the hellish machinations of the
' SWING '
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compassers of his own life , and saved himself to rally his party , and direct their energies in the cause of right and justice for a long period , and to a successful issue , in the legislative acknowledgement of the necessity of Reform in the passing of the beform bill ! So with O'Connor . When Frost was betrayed by spies into tho Newport business , and when he was committed as a traitor , O'Connor was denounced as a ' * coward" because he did not turn-out , and "head the people" in a mad crusade against life and property , to ensure the hanging and beheading of Frost , as well as the
ensuring of himself being " cut up in four quarters to be disposed of as the Queen should , most graciously , please to direot ! Nay , even when the trial of Frost was proceding ; when the City of Monmouth was in possession of a strong military force ; when almost every second man in it was a soldier ; even when this was the case , O'Connor was denounced as a " coward" becanse he was not fool enough to go upon the Welch Hills , organise the hardy mountaineers , and " h « ad them" in an attack
upon the Judges and the city ! and because he applied all his powers in aid of Frost ' s defence to the charge against him , and succeeded in enabling him to escape from the fangs of the bloody cut-throat Executioner !! And thus it has ever been . Faction has always seized the opportunity to spread distrust and sow the seeds of disunion between the people and their friends . It is its vocation to do so . It would be a traitor to itself did it misa the opportunity .
While , however , such a course must be expected and calculated on from the conductors of the factious Press , we have no right to expect that that course shall be joined in by those who wish to be considered as '' devoted to the service of the people . " We have no right to be called upon to defend ourselves from attacks from within ; while we have a right to expect , and to be prepared for , attacks from without .
In the foolish and senseless cry that has been raised by the Manchester Guardian , and joined in by the Morning Chronicle , the Globe , the Sun , Old Bloody , the Weekly Chronicle , and by every Whig and Whigling paper in the kingdom , against O'Connor because he did not take Cobden's place in the " suspension of labour" business ; or John Brooks ' place in the " arresting of the wheels of Government" business ; or Ald . Chappbl ' s place in ^ the " closing of the mills" business ; or Dr . Black ' s place , in erecting " barricades'' ; or Murdo Young ' s
place inputting " LADIES' HEADS on poles ;" or George Henry Ward ' s place in instigating the people to "SWING : " in the senseless and foolish , but desperately wicked , cry of " cowardice , " raised and kept up by the enemy against O'Connor , because he did not do these things , has a professed Chartist Journal , and a professed Chartist Editor , taken part ! In this matter he has ranged himself with the enemy ! In this matter , he ranks with the deadliest foes of the people 1 In this matter , he but echoes the slander and calumnies that faction has long since uttered !
What strange fantasies personal malevolence will make us play before high heaven ! What strange bedfellows personal malignity and ungovernable vindictiveness will make us acquainted with ! Who could have expected " THE Statesman , ' would put up horses with John Edward Taylor , with Old Bloody , with Dr . Black , with Murdo Young , and with the man at the Greenacre shop : who could have expeoted that " THil Statesman" would have been found in such precious company , flinging their dirt at second hand ! joining in the war-whoop and savage yells against one who has made the Chartist party what it is , —the only party whose power is conrted or dreaded I Who could have expected this ? Yet so it is ! !!
The letter that appeared in the Statesman of last Saturday , signed " An Old Chartist , " will be found in another portion of this sheet . That letter the Editor has made his own , by his approving commentary . Were we disposed to nnd out the author of it , we are convinced little difficulty would present itself . He may be ferreted out of the " Old Chartist" Warren in Manchester , in which he has taken refuge . But this is not of moment to us . With the Editor we have to deal ; not with his nameless , brainless , " cowardly" scribe .
O'Connor is " a coward . " So says" THE Statesman . " The fact of his " cowardice" we have given above . He neglected to take the place which ought to have been occupied by some member of the League ; and , therefore , he is a " coward "! He minded his own business , and left others to mind theirs . ; and , therefore , he is a " coward" ! He is invited to visit Manchester , to take part in certain public proceedings . He consents to go . He is elected a member of the Chartist Conference . He consents to go . Before he does go , he is apprized , through Sir Charles Shaw and the Rev . Mr . Scuolefield , that if he ventures to shew
his face in Manchester , be will be instantly apprehended on a warrant . grantsd for the purpose . "The coward" does not avail himself of the opportunity thus given Jrim to decline his visit . He goes at his own cost } He publicly enters the town . He goes to the house of the man who had been informed by Sir C . Shaw of the intention of the " authorities" to place him under arrest . He attends the meetings of the Conference He stays till the last ; and , when his business in Manchester is fully ended ; when he has done all that had been arranged for him to do ; he openly departs for London , where he had other business to do . In this consists his" cowardice" !!
O'Connor is a' coward . " So asseverates " THE Statesman . " O'Connor once stood before the Judges to receive sentence . He heard himself adjudged to be imprisoned for eighteen months . When he heard that , he did not snivel , and cry , and blubber , and roar , like a great boy ! He did not " BEG OF THE JUDGE TO BANISH HIM FOR LIFE" ! 1 He did not wimper , and weep , and "IMPLORE TO BE ALLOWED TO BANISH HIMSELF" !! He did not do this : nor did any one else , amongst the hundreds of Chartists who were prosecuted in 1839 , excepting one . Who that one is " THE Statesman" knows !!!
O'Connor is a " coward . " So says "THE Statesman : ' Bnt O'Connor NEVER DREW A KNIFE ! ! O'Connor has knocked many a man down ; and been knocked down . But it has been with honest fisting ! HE NEVER DREW A KNIFE , upon any man , much less UPON A FELLOW-PRISONER !!! We have heard of a Chartist prisoner who did . To the honour of the working men , he was not one of them . There was but one who so far disgraced Chartism , as to present himself in the attitude of a " coward" assassin , with a kaife in his hand . Perhaps "THE Statesman "in bis next number , will tell us who it was .
"THE Statesman" seems fond of dealing in the history of " cowards . " We may perhaps hereafter gratify him with a few anecdotes . We know some very interesting ones ; such as could not fail to please him , they are so much in his own way . It ia characteristic of the starved viper to sting every hand that warms it ; and hence Mr . James O'Brien and his double , the "Old Chartist , " are not more angry with O'Connor than with "the miserable subterfuges of his editor , Mr . Hill , in attempting to run away from the Movement , and throw all the onus or blame npon the Corn Law League . Such articles at such a crisis Were treason to the people ' s cause /*
If we had ever reason to congratulate ourselves upon any part by us taken in a publio movement , it is upon that we have taken in this movement . We did from the beginning throw the onus upon the League ; we do throw it npon them ; let them get out of it if they can . We from the beginning warned the Chartists to have nothing to do with the Strike . We told them at the first that if they Buffered themselves to be mixed up with it they would find much reason for repentance . In our
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first article upon it published three weeks ago , speaking of the tools employed by the concoctors of this Strike , these were our words : — " Their instruction *; are two-fold . Tbeyareflwfr to get the work-people out ; and then they are to give ths strike a CHARTIST TINGE I They are to mix the Chartists op with it ; and thus afford a pretext to the Leaguers and the Govetnment TO put CHARTrsa down , when the former have their own end served ! " Chartists , beware ( Be not mixed up with these proceedings . ¦ Keep Chartism distinct from the 11 risings" and the " riotings" ! Give your enemies no hold of yon ; and suffer them not to use you , and then coerce you J "
Had we been more heeded , and the " up-to-ihemark" men more prudent , we should not now have had to lament so many of our best men in the wolf ' s den ! Many a Chartist family that now wants bread would have had it ! and many as amiable wife would have missed the occasion she now has of soddening her lone pillow with her tears ! O ! yes , the " up-to-the-mark-men , " the "brave fellows , " who talk about " going to the House of Commons , with a petition in one hand , and a pistol in the other , " and who dare not belong to
the National Charter Association for fear some of its members shouid do an illegal act ; " these " brave gentlemen" are terribly incensed that the Star did not goad on the people to a position which should have more fully gorged' their middle-class freetrading friends with blood . O ! they are "brave men , " these " up-to-the-mark" gentlemen ! and honest as they are " brave" !! Hence they think that , " above all , the non-insertion of the Executive address was treachery of the basest description ; and this from the principal oracle of Chartism ia too bad . "
Well ! this may be a terrible piece of treason ; but if he is , we plead u guilty" to it . We did not publish the address . We never intended to publish it . We regret much that it ever was published ; and we fancy that ; we are not the only parties who now regret it . Mr . O'Connor has thought proper to take upon his own shoulders the onus of this omission . We cannot allow him to do so . It wa 3 our business to
publish or rejeot it . We chose to reject it ; and we are quite ready to " take tha responsibility . " It is quite true that Mr O'Connor did , after hearing of the seizure of poor Turner's traps , write a note to the Editor requesting that it might not be published We had heard of the seizure before receiving Mr . O'Connor ' s note ; and had , before receiving that note , determined not to publish it . Perhaps out readers will think the reason which actuated Mr * O ' Connor a sufficient one . We should have thought so , if we had had no other reason . But we had other
reasons . If Turner ' s types , &c , had never been seized at all ; if Turner had never been prosecuted at all ; and if we had no note from Mr . O'Connor , or if Mr . O'Connor had even written desiring us to print that address , we shouid not have published it . We had reasons of oar own for our determination ; reasons arising out of the document itself , and out of the circumstances under which it was put forth . At a proper time we may give those reasons . We will not give them now . It is not the abuse of Mr . James O'Brien , or any of his nameless cowards that should force us into statements which might
be construed to the prejudice of those who have at present enough to battle wi th ! We regret exceedingly that that address was ever published at all . We never did publish it . We never approved it . But if we had chosen to publish it , we would at least have shown less of the coward in our daring than " THE Statesman" did 1 !! We would not have characterised it as "THIS MOST EXTRAORDINARY DOCUMENT . " We would not have flown to the " miserable subterfuge" of quoting it from the London papers ! We would not have asserted the cowardly lie , that we tl didnot know whether it came from the Executive or nof to fence ourselves against the consequences of out
daring ! No , no ; we never yet printed anything in that way ! Had we approved the address , we would have printed it . We would have sailed boldly in the same boat with it 9 authors , and not have skulked behind a dastard screen , which , after all , is no screen at all 1 O ! he is a " brave" man , this James O'Brien and the words " coward" and " traitor" do sound so pretty coming from him , and applied to O'Connor and the Star ! He is a grateful man ! and makes good use of the people ' s pence , for which , week after week , the S . ' ar drammed up so lustily , that the " schoolmaster" and " THE Statesman" might have another paper to destroy ! ,
The most curious part of the charge against O'Connor by " THE Statesman" is , that he did not stay in Manchester , father the acts of M'Douall and Campbell , and allow them to keep out of the way of the police , while he kept in it 11 C » n the Chartists understand this ? Do they see through it ! O ! yes ! O'Connor is to father all ; to stand to all ; to bear all the odium , and all the weight of Governineht persecution . " THE Statesman" knows that O'Connor has had to stand to otherpeople ' s doings before now ! "THE Statesman" knows that O'Connob has had to endure sixteen months of solitary confine ment , in a condemned cell , for what ? For his own act 1 for his own words ? for his own writings ? for any comment of theater ' s ! for any
thing of this sort i No I But for a speech made by Mr . James Brontrrre O'Brien !!! O ! yeB " THEStatesman"kaowB about Mr . O ' Connor having had to father other people ' s acts ; having had to answer for them with loss of personal liberty for 16 months together , under restraints such as no other individual in England ever before had to endure I Yes ! " THE Statesman " knows of this . He knows of" other people keeping out of the way of the police , " and of O'Connor keeping in it , to answer for those " other people's " , acts ! " THE Statesman" knows of this ; and it cuts him to the heart that he cannot again play the same card . ' But " no more Bluestone , good doctor" ! one dose of that sort is enough !
THE VICTIMS TO CLASS PREJUDICE . The prosecutions and persecutions have again commenced ! The doings of 1839 are to be repeated Men are committed to gaol , to stand their trials ' for being Chartists . Heavy and excessive bail is fixed ( where bail is admitted of ) , to prevent its obtainment . The prisons are being Crammed . T& 9 vindictive and revengeful passions of the men dressed in a " little brief authority" again have full swing ; and class prejudice is excited and appealed to by the corrupt and time-servii g preBS , to secure a " fair" and " impartial" trial for the victims ot malevolence , when placed before middle-clas 3 Jurora !
Look at * he reports of the "Examinations" given in our present and last week ' s paper J particularly the examinations of Leach , Hctchinson , m <» White . Read over the " evidence . " Weigh it well ; see its bearings ; and then judge of some of thoeff magisterial decisions which send men to take ibeii trials at the next Assizes" ! Take White's case . Take the report as we fin * it , and as we give it . We do not know that it is ir
correct ; but just as , it appeared in the Whig ^ " mingham Journal do we transfer it to our P * g # # Take it , then , aB a report given by the enemy of thj » proceedings in M Court . " Take it , and well weiffi the " evidence" adduced ; and then judge if a man ought to have been " committed" on any suob incoherent , bald , disjointed , stark-staring , self-evident * nonsense as the witnesses depose to ! And forget not the character of those witnesses ! Let not the remembrance of that be absent from the mind when judging
of the "depositions . " Look well , too , to the revealments made by Wng in his able and judicious cross-examination ^ him drag the veil from off the infamoas and de **^ able system of espionage resorted to by the ¦* p ° that be" to learn a man ' s private opinions ;» n ° « possibly , to incite him to utter expressions , or 00 mit acts , which will enable the inciter to P «* £ blood-money . Look again and again » t th »* poaure ! Remember that it is in Engukb ^* these dastardly and infamous things are dos ei . England ! that country which has « lw » y « * \ famed for its love of uprightness * ndftir * i > I * f' *" its hatred of deceit and treacheryf ' ' ¦ ' & * # * £ that it is the now English " authorities" who W irwt
The Northern Star. Saturday, September 3, 1842.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , SEPTEMBER 3 , 1842 .
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4 THE NORTHERN STAR . ,. . . . '• .. /; -. - ¦;; ¦' -, " ' .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Sept. 3, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct614/page/4/
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