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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 1843.
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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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ACCBXNGTOIT . A Pirsuc Mbktjkg was held last night , Monday , Marc ?; ' 27 th , in the large -weaving shed belonging to M ^ -rf Dixon and Co . to adopt a petition to the fli" > - of Commons against the bill now before Parliais-nt for the better regnl&tion of tire factories , sad for securing an education to the infant labourers employed in the mills . Mr . Harbottle , baptist -minister , was called to the eh 2 ir . He opened the business of thfl meeting by Bianns that they lad met that night to petition against the Government scheme of education in conncctron with the factory bi 2 now before Parliament . He wocld not take np the time of the meeting , bat ¦ wosi ,- introduce to their noti&e Mr . Griffes , baptist jsm v-ixT . -- " - . Griffe 3 said that the bill now before Parliait
jnt-n- ^ -aso ne a most atrocions cnaracter ; was ca ' cilaied in time Of allowed to pass ) to steep the peep ] -- in ignorance , and establish again the despotic p-yw i of a Jesuitical priesthood over the minds of ths pr-ople , and destroy those feelings of I 0 T 3 aud benevolence which existed between the dissenting mini .-t-. T and his congregation , and also between the Sct . aa _ v school scholar and his teacher . He believed iha ,-. u-. ss bill had been brought into Parliament by thr Government for no other reason than to endeavour to cans ? a division amongsi the Corn X > aw repealers , for they were now afraid of them , and tbe ; r professed Mends had actually turned round ana feasp-ly calumniated » body of men who were enatjavonrine to benefit the condition of ihepoor ;
be : si ] would not do ; they could not cause any difference amongst them j they would not quarrel : kjesi ^ si tbemselres j no one had ever heard th em ' ace ^ B each other , or evar would , althonjjh Lord > Brv ^ ham had spit forth his Tenom . He remembered ^ th& . > = > me time ago it was in coniemplation to make s . -. 'jden pavement round St , Paul's Cathedral , ! wt ^ ii the Bishop of London opposed it . Sydney Sm-. th told the Bishop that they might soon do it Irish hitle expense if the clergy wosld lay their lea-I together . He ( Mr . G ) lisonght their heads ' ¦ woold be as well there as any where ; but he was ' ? ure that tho ^ e who got up thi 3 bill w ere not ) wooo- u-headed . He had read of a political econo- ¦
mi .-: ii ) r . Godwin ) who had recommended the destruer . on of children , and that was worse than 1 Soc ^ 2 ism , iha . j wanted to separate man from wife , chiJAreE from parents , scholars from teacbers ; bnt J he Li . tw the people of this part were not of this ] description . Sovr , some philosopher had said thai j it w ^ s necessary at certain tisjes to shave the head , ; an j n cemmenaed that Godwin shonld ; and he ( Mr . j G . ) had heard that Lord Brougham was mad ; but he : hun £ jat to share his , ¦ would do him liiile good , j for ce tnoujjht he lisd & hole in his head tha t allowed aE n . sspnses to escape . After a good rigging of . | the rr-tablished clergy , he sat down by moving that a Tuition against the education clauses of the bill j be iJopted-
'i Me Chairman introduced Rev . Mr . Lings , who » a--d this bin should have all the opposition he could gh ^ it . It was a measure that the Government was bnv -ciiig forward to desrey that most intelligent ck = ? of dissenters . It was calcnlaied to . break np ibe Sunday schools , in connection with their relii .-us plsces of worship , and place the children of ' se poor , under the guidance and tuition of thr iji parsons of the church ; they would be compelled 10 hear the liturgy and catechism of the Chsreh , and thus would the parsons of the Church g&iz a control otet the minds of the young ; besides
tin-, lareepenee would hare to be taken from their wsgrs whether they attended the school or not . He iau ao objection to children being educated ; but he objects 10 das 3 education ; besides paying tkreepe . ^ fn .-m their earning , the schools were io be buiit aa 1 -Bpported from xhtj -poors' rate , which now lay so ^ avy upon the middls classes . This measure wsi 5 ; oanded in robbery ; it woald hare to be supporst-i oy robbery , and it was robbery all through ; he *~» ould , therefore , oppose the education clause al : ~ xner . If a system was to be established , let it i on liberal principles .
lie ? . A . Taylor said that he "riewed this measure wiia : -he greavest indignation . The parsons of the Cbn-ca had no feeling for the poor ; le knew ihai no ; t ^ n zoiles from Blackburn , a clergyman of ibt Church had refused to bury a corpse because th ^ y were too poor to pay the fees . He would ask ve : ^ there any of the ministers upon that platform ¦ wci-M do 30 f He would say no . Rather than allow any of his children , ( and he had seven ) , to be nnaer this act , and governed by church parsons , or hezr them saj " amen" k > those bloated men , he vi -Jd rather see the slaTe-drirer fetch ibem from hit- bouse and work them like beasts .
Mr . Buton next addressed the meeting . He said thst this bill would arouse the people , for they TifcWeKi it with alarm . It had been said that they trer ± not wooden heads that drew ap this bilL He Ciougni SO ; he opposed the laying on a tax for the support or education of a class . If a tax cms ; be lai-i . let it be for a geEeral system of education and Bp ^ - ~ -he most liberal principles . He would not oceut * their time as it was cold . The rwirpv r * read over the petition again , and ira ^ abont to put it to thB meeting , whan
Mr . Beesley rose , and said , Mr . Chairman , I understood that no alluaon was to be made to any party , bnt that iad not been adhered to . He should oppose the petition before the meeting , and initiKled to move an amendment . He was & 5-toms&ed to hear so much Baid abont tte expence of edceatmg the poor factory child , but he believed that wa = not the intention of the party getting it up . He w&sijnewho would speak his mind , fiere he was in * . errapted by one or two individuals , when he said ifpt-ople could not come and kfep their temper , or listiu ' to both sides of the question , they had better stop si home , fo * be { Mr . B . ) had as much right to sjk-sk as any one , and he would tell them he was not u > be put down . Speak he would , for he had
¦ wanted a long time to tell the dissenting ministers ¦ wha : he thought of them , and he had never had an opponanity before , bni he would do it jjow . [ Aye } that is what yon eoas for i ] Yes , he would r * iber tell tbem to their face what he thought about them , than , serpenvlike , do it behind their backs—( hear , fceaT . ) He belieTed the dissenting ministers neglected their duty as mBch as the church parsons , and ae suspected them npon this occasion . They had always been foHnd apon the side of wealth- 1 ^ the BUdaie classes or mamifacnirefS get up an agitation , or mentioned any crotchet calculated to benefit them bui injniioTi 3 to the poor , the dissenting ministers echoed the cry—they gave them their support approved of . their plans , and assisted them in
their agitation , bnt if the working classes wanted their assistance , they looked upon them with contempt ; they spurned them with inso lence and upbraided them with ignorance ; they had never yet , to his knowledge , lent their assistance to obtain for the producing millions their rights . They had not taken the orphan by the hand , or provided an asylum for the destitute ; but they raised their voices for a measure calculated to benefit the money-mongers ; and now they were crying out against the best Bill that had ever been brought before Parliament , because it would aot be for the benefit of the masters ( hear , hear ); and they pietended they wanted thp people educating- If bo , ¦ whv oppose the only measure likely to secure them
that education they so much deplored the want of ! In his ( Beesley ' s ) opinion , it was not the educational > « l&use that was the cause of their opposition ; but it ' was the shield of protection it threw over the infant slave . They talked about the expense that ; wonld be incurred for the edneadon of a class ; it ' ewne with a verj bad grace from such men . Who \ neeoed instruction more than the children of the j poor , who were at the mercy of the tyrant cotton j aanufacturers ! Was there not more justice m \ granting monty to educate the children of the poor , who were too poor to send them to private ; Bcheob , than to grant large sums to the colleges of [ Cambridge , Oxford , and Maynooth , to educate the * Bona of the wealthy , who were able to pay for their ,
own ! Y « t they called no meetings % o pennon against tMa . Were it not better to grant it for such a purpose , than for the support of the naval and military schools 1 Yet they said no-hing against ; this . Were it not better that this Bill should pass , ; that woald compel both parents and masters to provide for the instruction of the children , than 'to Ib&tb them to the mercy of the masa&ctttrer , who ; had evaded the Act mat was now in force , by : assembling the children in fire holes , and teaching ; them from scraps of old newspapers , not more than : three inches square , and so black that the children could not see the letters apon them t They had ; talked about the power placed in the hands of the \ bishops and clergy of the Church . If that was
what they objected to , why not word the petition so thai the House of Commons might know what part of the sill they did object to , and not have it in : its present form than oppose the Bill altogether . He \ did not approve of the power placed in the hands of the parson of the church . He telieved that the dissenting ministers ( from what be had seen of them ) if they had the same -power wonld be equally as tyraanic&l &s the others , thongb they bad railed Against them this sight most pitifully . They had held tip the parsons of the Church as being the greatest tyrants ; but he , Mr . B ., thought they were net the onl j tyraata . He believed no greater tyrants ever lived than the factory masters ; and , strange to say , the ministers of disse&t were always found going h * nd and glove with them , even upon the present
occasion—( bear , hear ) . Bad they not driven the able-bodied labourers from the market , and compelled tfiem to send their wives and ielpless offspring Co their sills to eoin for them , from their hearta blood , immense and prinoely fortunes . Had not children beea taken from their ceds in early morn , and carried upon ihe backs . of their parents throngh the pitiless storm on the winter ' s morning to those dens of Tice , nntil their consntntions had been dessroyed , and thousands sent to a premature grave Did they not work in these mills from their cradle , as ft were , amongst the most abandoned characters , th « r tender ears insulted with the most obscene language , —sod was It not necessary that they shonld have an education gives to them to oonnteract the eSsci prodoced by being in such company J and woald tiey object to a bill that weuld secure tfciBj
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because too mm-h power was placed in the hands of a certain party } Thry talked about their being members of the Established Church that were to be the teachers and inspector ^ . This he did not agree with , but he btliered that if the ministers who were upon that platform had the same power , the Baptist minister would look amongst his own congregation for the teachers ; if a Methodist , the same ; and a New Church minister , the same . In order to show the Government that we were not actuated by factious motives , and believing also that the best way to make men honest was to keep it out of their power
to become rogues , and also agreeing that taxation move an amendment , to the following effect : — and representation ought to be co-equal , he would H That we highly approve of the Bill now before the House of Commons with respect to the proleotion it givb 3 to the infant factory children , and for the shortening the hours of labour , and also for-providing for the means of their education , but believe the power of appointing the trustees ought not to be placed in the hands of any party , bat ought to be exercised by the ratepayers , and that no deduction should be made from thB miserable earnings of the poor for such education . "
After many more observations , Mr . B . sat down amidst the approbation of the meeting . This brought Messrs . Dixon , Lings , and others upon their feet again , Mr . Beesley again replying , when they agreed to both motion and amendment together , and to strike out the objections in the petition Mr . B . had made , and that Mr . Beesley and the Rev . J . Harbottle should meet in the morning , and draw the petition up as Mr . Beesley had stated . Thus ended the meeting upon the Factory Act . The following iB the petition : — To tht HenourabU Ou Commons' of Great Britain and Ireland , in Parliament assembled . The Petition of the UTidersiffned It&abitaxts of Accrinalon ,
HCXBLT SHETTETB—That your Petitioners being duly sensible of the important benefits of education , and having made and encouraged effort * for the extension of that invaluable blessing , cannot view without considerable alarm , some of the provisions of a Bill intituled That the parts of the aforesaid Bill against which W » object , are those which give undue influence antt irresponsible power to tha Clergy ef the established Church is the appointment of trustees , masters , and inspectors —which exclude all bnt such as are of that Church from the office of schoolmaster , or inspector of such schools
— "which taita a portion from ths hard-sarned wages of the poor , and in addition requires the expenditure of public money , apparantly to advance the interests of one class of religious professors . To these and similar regulations we do most decidedly object as being likely to impose new grievances on Protestant Dissenters , Methodists , Koman Catholics , and others—to throw into the hands of the clergy a power of taxation , constitutionally belonging to none but the chosen represen tatives of the people , and to produce a spirit of domination on the one hand and of resistance on the other , thereby increasing those religious animosities already unhappily too prevalent
That your Petitioners , approving of the details of the Bill for shortening the hours of labour and giving due protection to the factory child , humbly pray that yon will era ^ e from the Bill the abo ve mentioned clause or clauses , which give inch undue powejr to the Bishops ^ Clergy , and Churchwardens of the established Church , and substitute a clause empowering the ratepayers to elect the Trustees , choose the schoolmasters , and adopt such rules for the Kovernaient of the schools as may to them Beera most proper , and also to fix the rate of salary to be paid te each schoolmaster within their respective localities ; and farther , that no deduction be made from the hard-earned pence of the poor to pay for an education which ought to be gratuitously afforded . Aud you Petitioners , io
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MONOMANIA . isi - VCB Oxford " popped" at the Queen , the times have been most prolific in the breed of monomaniacs . With the proverbial fecundity of ill weeds and vermin , they have sprung up so rankly that they seem to be becoming rather the rule" than ' the exception , " and the London papers '' look not like themselves" unless we have some of their exploits duly chronicled . This insidious disease , like
most others , has varions forms and phases . It manifests itself in icany different ways . Latterly , the decided preference seems to have been given to the homicidal form of developsment , in its direct aspect . This aspect of the disease has at least one advantage ; that it is easily dealt with . The patient exhibits symptoms of physical determination to homicide ; knives , pistols , pop-guns , & . c . appear upoa the surface ; a woman is fired at , and a man is shot : by these symptoms he dis ease 13 at once detected , and the unhappy
sufferer" is taken care of , and prevented from going longer at large to do more mischief . But there are many forms of monomania besides this ; one of which is an inordinate aud irrational desire of fame . There are some men whoBe ambition seems to be of a kind distinctly and exclusively their own ; at once insatiable and unscrupulous ; caring nothing for the sort of fame they may acquire , bo that they may but Eve in memory—so they may bnt do something to be talked of . Thus we have beard of a sailor irho , from mere love of notoriety , ate a large
Quantity of mustard , with which his messmate fed him from a table spoon . A like strange anxiety to become posthumously the u table talk " of gossips Is believed to have been the incentive to one or two of the recent fatal leaps from the Monument ^ and , in a previous matter , the evident pleasurable emotions with which the " lionising" of the thing inspired poor Josathak Mxbtib , induced many to suppose that his was as instance of this form of the distressing malady . Disease , like death ,
is most impartial in its visitations . It is an effect which surely visits every subject who may have put its cause in operation . Hence wealth , and " rank , " and " station , " form do barrier to its ingress . It seats itself with as little ceremony on the judicial bench as on the cooler ' s BtalL We lately had a lamentable instance of its freaks in this line in the vagaries of " the modem Jeffries , " who made up his mind to atone for a long life-time of mere muckworm wriggling by a last dash of the uncommon , '' which should get him
a Damned to everlasting fame . " He succeeded , as such unfortunates do always , in producing , in some minds execration , in others pity and contempt , bnt in all a conviction that it was requisite for public safety to " take care of him" ; and hence kis Special Commission was his last commission ; and the dotard will snooze out the remainder of hi 3 days in the retirement" which may shield him from public indignation , while his memory passes away among the eddying bubbles which the torrent of events discloses but to hide . Sic ' trajisit
gloria mundi . ' " Alas I poor Judge' ' . We were in hopes to find this a solitary instance of thi 3 form of Judicial Monomania ; an aspect far more repulsive than the directly homicidal one of ihe MaCNaUGHtss 3 snd the Oxtobds ; because combining all their ferocity with much more of cunning ; and extending -its sphere of animosity from individuals to whole classes as the representatives of principle . True , however , to their morbid instinct , like a flock of sheep pressed to & pass , no sooner does one take the leap than the rest follow in succession
and each vies with the last one in the spring . The Ermined Dissenter has treated himself to a "Baptism by immersion" in the pool of profligacy that leaves the " sprinkling" of "Brother Abix « eh ' far in the shade . Asixger did content himself with pouring off the acid from his stomach into the big cup of the Grand Jury , and emptying the filthy residue npon " convicted" prisoners ; while his conduct during the trials bore at least some show of decency ; bat Gubhst out-Herods Herod . His conduct on the tri * l of Jokes , reported in our present paper , is the most perfect specimen of rampant
xabid malignity that we have ever seen . We have oertainly seen nothing in our own time to equal it , and we know nothing in history to surpass it in atrocity . It is unique . We know of » o category in which to place it . It isl «« generis We refer oar readers to the report , as we have taken it from the Morning Chronicle . It admits of do comment : i : speaks for itself . We were astounded when we read it ; and could scarcely credit it . We thought the reporter mnst have had some purpose to malign , or must have strangely misconceived bis Lordship ; we looked , therefore , for the report of the trial in other papers , and found
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that , on the contrary , the fellow feeling" of " Dissent" and " liberalism" had greatly softened matters in favour of the " Baptist Judge" —the first judicial fruits of Whig ascendancy—the grafting of "the Reform crab" npon the ancient bitter stock . Wishing always to present every man in the best light of estimation that his character will bear , we adopted the Chronicle ' s report in preference to that of other papers , in which the glossing brash ' had been used more sparingly . To shew , however , tbat we do sot over-state the case , we give here the Times' version of the same prooeeoingB so far as they relate to the brutal interruptions by the Judge of the defendant , while addressing the Jury and or-: ss-examining the witnesses . In cross-examination : —
"Thomas Agar—Was a sergeant of police . Had been so for a year and a half , and in the force for three years . Was in the Pasture on the evening of the 28 th of August , at about seven o ' clock . There were about 2 , 000 people assembled , chiefly of the lower class . He corroborated the testimony of the former witness as to the language uttered by the defendant . " Cross-examined by the defendant—Did you think you were morally justified ! "The Judge—Stop , Btop ; what have we to do with that ? " The defendant—My Lord , I
think" The Judge—You may think what you please ; but we' ]] have no such nonsense as that about * morally justified' here . ' ** Cross-examination resumed—They were rather orderly . He meant by that , that there was no actual breach of the peace . There was no disturbance ; but ( he people were elevated . Meant by ' elevated ' that they were wrought upon by your expressions . There was injury done to the policemen before you came , and not since . "The Judge—Why they took you up you see ; that's the way they quieted you . If you turn a dog down the street , and cry out * mad dog , ' there ' s no need to tell the people to knock him on the head . There ' s no occasion for it , it is not necessary ; they will do it without .
"The defendant—I ' m quite atvare of that , my Lord ; I , aud those like me , have painfully learned that by experience . " In defence : — " He bad said that the Government was tyrannical , because he thought " The Judge—Then you have done very wrong . You have no right to hold out that the Government is tyrannical . You need not give yourself a bad character . We know nothing of you but what you said aud did on the occasion that we are inquiring into . Confine yourself to the present charge against you .
"The defendant resumed—What was there inflammatory in his language as compared with that which w&s to be found in a speech lately delivered by the Worshipful the Mayor of Leicester , which be would read to them ! " The Judge- ~ You cannot be allow ed to do that ; it has nothing to do with the present charge ; and beside ? , we don ' t know anything more of it than what you tell us . " The defendant resumed—What would have been said of him if he had uttered such inflammatory language as that ? [ He then proceeded to read some very strong passages , and afterwards told the Jury that such had been the language of the Mayor of Leicester , recently addressed to a popular assembly .
He then directed their attention to a speech recently delivered , also to a popular assembly at Leicester , by one of the Learned Counsel for the proseoution , to the language of which he seemed to desire to convey the impression that hia own would , by comparison , be found to be not uniike ' Hyperion to a Satyr . ' He began to read , ' Will you , the people of England '—( . Here , to the apparent disappointment of many , and the utter chagrin and discomfiture of the defendant himself , he was summarily stopped by the Court J The Learned Judge now presiding bad sat at the trials of M'Doual ] and Vincent , and he ( the defendant ) might with impunity express his opinions respecting that Learned Judge ' s course of proceeding . [ The Judge ^ -That depends upon the manner in which you do it 3 "
As to the words the day of boiling will come , when woe to the unboiled , ' they were used only as a figurative mode of expressing his hope and conviction that the good time would come when the state of things would be so altered as to supersede the necessity of a police force . ** The Judge—I shall order those porsons away , if they keep pumping . [ The defendant had been hitherto receiving the assistance of two persons ( Chartists , no doubt ) sitting by his side , ]
" The defendant complained , with some warmth , of the interruption that he said he had received front the Court , and said that he felt that if he had been allowed to conduct his defence in the manner in which he had marked it out for himself , and as he thought most advisable and proper for him , he should have been able to satisfy the jury that he had done only what was conscientious and right , and had not been guilty of tbe crime charged against him . He then said , * My Lord , may I beg that I may not be further interrupted , but permitted to conduct my defence , according to the best of my ability , in the mode in which I have designed it ?"
" Tbe Judge—That will depend upon whether yon confine yourself within proper limitB , and to the subject of the charge which you have to answer . u The defendant proceeded—* He felt it useless to address them any farther . *" Let any man readtheBe statements ; let him compare them with the Chronicle ' s report , as given elsewhere ; let him believe that those antagonistic papers are not in league for the destruction of Judge Gurnet ; let him read the whole report ; let him mark the character of the evidence against Jonesand the offence that he was charged with ; let him remember that Jokes is a poor cobler lad—that he stood there , unassisted , to contend with Counsel learned in the law and backed up by the nation ' s purse ; let him remember that by the principles of the British Constitution—that constitution which our
Judges are sworn to uphold—the Judge iB to be at all times the undefended prisoner ' s Counsel ; that the law leans always to the side of mercy and gives every doubt to the defendant ; let him take all these circumstances into the account , and then let him believe , if he can , that Judge Guanby is not a miserable Monomaniac , seeking , in infamy and in the execrations of society that " being talked of" which the estimable qualities to be looked for from his years and station do not furnish .
This is by no means the first evidence of Baron Gubnby ' s utter incompetency either of mind or character for the high station to which ho was elevated as the first proof of imbecility , or something worse , which characterised the whole career of Whig ascendancy . In 1834 , before he had been two years a Judge , his name rang through tho country as a diBgrace , morally or mentally or in both respects , to the judicial bench . At the Newcastle Summer Assizss of that year , among other samples of judicial equity and mercy , he exhibited tbe following : —A lad who had obtained a hat , value 8 s . 6 d ., by false pretences , was adjudged by him to be " transported
for life '' ! Two loose women , one of whom had filched , and the other received aud run away with two sovereigns and some silver , belonging to a proftigate faimer , where both transported for life ! and a young man , in the possession of whose mother , a mad woman dependant on him for support , were found some pieces of salt pork which were said to have been stolen , was sentenced also to be transported for life !! ! and the mother , apparently not henelf ( as the report says ) even ' at the trial , was ordered to be transported for seven years !! While
at that very same assizes , an atrocious case of bigamy was tried before his Lordship , where a Captain of a merchant vessel had deceived and ruined an innocent girl , under pretence of marriage , having also defrauded her parents of their child ; this hardened scoundrel , who well deserved the severest penalty the law allows , was adjudged by the humane Baron , to no more than six month's imprisonment !!! These things excited much observation at the time ; but he was then young on the Bench and it was hoped that experience would teach him something of wisdom and discrimination .
. We rejoice to see , from Mr . O ' Connor's letter ^ that be has determined to take up the case of Jokes , and demand for him a new trial . We trust fervently that the people will see to the providing of the funds forthwith and amply . These matters are really no jekes . " They cannot bo borne . Judges must be taught that in England people know the law and know the extent of their authority ; and that no man is to be thus immolated by msadling , doting , ignorant , malignity ; though he may even be a cobler and a Chartist .
! Can any body send us a list } of M the names , weights , and colours" of the Jury ia Jones ' s case That Jury ought to be ashamed ever again to look Englishmen in the face , The conduct of the Judge
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without any other evidence , ought to have secured a verdict of acquittal , even if there had been any evidence worth calling such against Jones , which there was not . If this trial do not drive Baron Gurnet into " retirement , " then there ia either no virtue in the English people , or no power in public opinion .
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The spirit in which Mr . O'Connob has pat forth this " Skeleton jof a Plan , "—hia anxiety that it should be canvassed and sifted by the peoplehis wish to receive tbe suggestions and assistance of all , that the plan may be improved , if possible , may be corrected , if in any point illegal , —and made in every respect practically efficient—cannot be too much admired : It is the very spirit in which all propositions for public acceptance ought to be made , and which the ] importance of the subject especially demands in this matter .
We rejoice to see ( the care with which Mr . O'Connor seems to regard the " legality of every point . " We think with him tbat it ia most important to make Chartism a- thing of which none need be legally afraid . There can be no doubt that our cause has derived an impetus , especially in certain ; quarters , from the proceedings connected with the late trial . That advantage ia owing ' : not more to the exhibitions of taleut which were made than to the proofs which were afforded of the earnest determinanation on the part ofmo 3 t of those who have led the movement , while they took every opportunity
of asserting and enforcing their principles , to abide by Bach means aa might ; comport with and conduce to the peace and good ! order of society . We have made thus an advance in public estimation ; our cause has received an advantage , but it has been purchased at a dear rate , and we cannot afford to repeat the purchase . Besides any further exhibition of the same kind would only tend to lessen the advantage we have gained by thi ? . We must now , therefore , endeavour td proceed safely . We must ttke care that our organisation be within the law , and we mast take care to abide by our organisation , when established , aud to see that it is enforced on all ;
no more tampering with it by our own officers— -no more involving of the cause and tbe party in the " responsibility" which individuals choose to take upon themselves . Each man must now learn to know his own place and [ keep it . It is quite possible so to direct our movements as that " the l&vr shall be compelled to work with us and for us ; and this must be done . Every public act , every movement of the body , must be made conformable to rule , while the rule is made conformable to law . We shall then , as a body , be safe ; our onward progress , at whatever speed , will be onward ; ' and not as it has hitherto been , circular , coming back always to the same point whence we started . We see much in this " skeleton of a plan ; " that will go a long way towards
Securing those desirable objects . We wait anxiously for the filling-up of the" skeleton , " which we trust will be found to effect it fully , and also to lay before the people something in the \ shape of an immediate and practical application of our own principles , to cheer and aid us in our struggle , to make them ultimately triumphant on tbe broadest scale . We are most happy to see in several of the master-minda of the movement aoraving , simultaneously , manifested after something practical—some present embodyment in useful results of our principles and energies . We claim attention on this h ^ ad to the following extract of a private letter , written in February last , from one of the most intelligent , ; as well as honest , of our leaders , to a person whom it will be seen he was wishful to put in nomination for the Executive : —
" My dear Sib . —With the contents of your letter I am highly gratified . It tells me that if you can be prevailed upon to accept the office of one of the Executive , and if the people will only elect you , that the best results will flow from your appointment . " I have for a considerable time past been of tbe opinion that Chartism needs reformation—that nearly all we are how doing is labour lost . We appear to go the round of one circle over and over again . Behold the round we tread : agitation—EXCITEMENT — OUTBREAK 4- PERSECUTION—APATHY I — and then , when the imprisoned get free , we have
more agitation , more excitement , until we finish of with persecution and apathy again . We are doing nothing practical . Why should we not ? The Socialists , if they move slowly , are doing something . We are doing worse than ; nothing . I am not quite so wild as I was four years ago ; and though equally as good a democrat , I now see , what I could not see then , that roaring ; multitudes will not of themselves ever bring the Charter . As yet we ( as a people ) have neither the virtue to get the Char er by moral means , nor have we the courage nor means to take the Charter by force . It is circumstances , backed by the increasing intelligence of the masse ? , to which Hook for the carrying of the Charter . Could we not , then , ( without
leaving anything undone ! we are now doing calculated to accelerate the obtainment of that measure , ) do something practical in i the meantime ; something which would shew the world we would know how to apply legislative rights when we got them for the removal of the social misery existing 1 I believe we could . I believe we must come to something of the sort ; and the sooner the better too . Now , I believe you are just the man calculated to commence that reform of the movement ; and so thinking , it is my earnest desire to see you at the Exeeutive Board . I am weary of Chartism as at present conducted . Let us prove by acts and deeds that we are fiitod to legislate , and depend upon it , bo far from retarding , we shall greatly accelerate the triumph of the Charter .
" More I cannot say now ; when the gods permit I will , on these matters ,, by letter or otherwise , say something more . " Anent the same matter , we have also , this week , received a letter from a gentleman whom , though he be not very prominent in the movement , we know , and feel proud to know , as one whose strength of mind and sterling honesty deserve much attention . He writes as follows : — " SIR , —I hope you will allow me a small space in the eoluran 8 of tbe people ' s paper , it is the first time I ever asked you the favour , and the reason I do so new is , because I believe that the time has now arrived for us , as Chartists , to make a further advance , in order
to accomplish that -which you and I , In common with the rest of our Chartist brethren , have so much at heart—that is , equal justice : to all , and happiness to all the human family . I feel convinced that out long aud arduous agitation must have proved to every reflecting individual , as welt as to the world at large , that when tbe people are properly united , their pewur is omnipotent Who is be tbat has beheld , and bas not admired , the noble conduct of our unwashed aud illiterate artisans sallying f rlh from their workshops , and mouutiug the hnstings for the purpose of discussing out glorious principles with the classic and refined aristocrats , and proving unto them , and to ! the world , that our principles are based npon justice , and therefore they are immutable ? :
" I am not aware of any , meeting having heen properly convened for tbe purpose of discussing our principles , where they have not ; been always triumphantly carried , save and except in that small market-house of incurables situated upon the banks of the river Thames , where they make errors by hundreds , aud squander the people ' s money by millions . ' - " As Chartists we do not profess to have the gift of prophecy ; nevertheless , we always knew tbat certain causes would produce certain effects , and knowing , as we did , tbat the mal-administration of class legislation , and tbe improved and stilt improving state of machinery would ultimately bring on national distress ; knowing this , we asked fot our political rights to be conceded unto us , in order to empower as to alter tbe
institutions of our country , so as to enable us to prevent so dreadful a calamity ; but instead of our just rights being conceded unto us , onr petitions have always been treated with contempt by a large majority of the members of that House which Is falsely called the people's House ; aud also most of those out of that House , who move ia rather a higher sphere of society , as they term it , have treated us and our principles somewhat uncourteously . The reason ; why some of them have done bo , I believe , i « because they nave been quite ignorant what our principles are ; others have misrepresented us , because tbey thought It were tLeir interest to do so ; but , if I am not gTeatly mistaken , such individuals are finding It out that they reckoned without their host
•• well , let us persevere onward , and aa aura as two and two make four , if we only unite oar agitation with a firm so-operation , we shall prove unto the slanderers and the waverers that we are still progressing iu the tight course . j " Now , Bit , for our onward movement Daes not our great champion , and virtuous patriot , O'Connor , cry out " THB LAND , " and you echo to the cry , and I fellow ia the train , and « ay THE LAND •*• but the question which now arises is , is the land to come unto us , or « e are to go unto tbe land . I say tee must go to the land Well , then , if we are to go te the land , aome plan must be adopted to come at the means .
" Well , Sir , we all knowjthat many pence makes a pound , and one million pence a week will realise a sum of four thousand one hundred and sixty-sis pounds , thirteen shillings and fourpence weekly . " Now then , brother Chartists , if this jum could be placed in tbe hands of an Executive , every week , for the purpose of being judiciously laid out , would it , I ask , weaken our present position ? I unhesitatingly say it would make us doubly strong ; but anxious as I am to see either this or some more improved plan carried
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" - " — =. —• " ^ e into operation , I know it cannot be accomplished ia one week ; it will have to be the work of time ; bnt if it be taken up ia tbe ea . me spirit that tbe Trades' Union was , the time will be short , aud I Bay be that has it in bis power to subscribo and does not do so , I cannot believe him to be sincere when I hear him wishing that society was regenerated . Talking is very good in its place ; but , in my opinion , the time has now arrived
when it behoves us to act as well as talk . Now , if it be adviseable that an experiment should be tried , some plan mnst be bit upon in order to eel it agoing . I would beg to suggest the propriety ef calling a small conference ; such sonference to be composed of a few of the best minds that can be selected from the Chartist ranks ; say one from Yorkshire , one from Lancashire , and one from each of tbe other counties ; the said delegates to meet in some central place .
•* We , your friends at Keighley , were amongst the foremost to form a political union previous to the passing of what was falsely called the Reform Bill , and we are now read ; to assist in placing Chartism upon a more solid basis than it hitherto has been . Let us hasten to place onrselves in this formidable position , and then if we kn « ck at the door of St . Stephen ' s , whether Peel or Russell be the gate-keeper , they will politely let us ia . " I remain , " Yours in the cause of Democracy , " Joseph Firth . " Keighley , March 21 , 1843 . "
These sentiments are worthy of earnest consideration , coming , as they do , from one of labour ' s nobles These are evidences of the turn the public mind is taking . We rejoice to see them : they are proofs that our labour baa not been in vain—that the seed which we have sown is showing itself already in the blade , and will yet ripen in the full ear . We have vet much to say npon this subject of remodelling our movement . We shall return to it again and again , and lay our own thoughts before the people . Meantime we commend it to the careful consideration of Mr . O'Connob in thefilliDg up of his "
skeleton ; we have had no communication with him on the matter , but should be glad to have . We feel earnestly desirous that our new Organisation should be perfect ; that it should embrace every advantage , and guard against every disadvantage ; hence , WO advise the people to take time , to deliberate , to weigh well every point , to give , through the Star , the benefit of their opinion , to those who may be occupied in preparing measures for their consideration and acceptance . Let , it however , be noted , that whilst
inviting from all the expression of GEeiropinion , we do not offer general license , and promise general indulgence ^ to every man who can spin out a letter of a column or two in length . What we want are not writers and essays , but hints and observations ; short , pithy and to the point—telling what the letters mean , without waste of words . Unless this caution be observed , our space may be unduly occupied , and we may be obliged to offend many by suppression or curtailment .
. We think no steps should be taken for appointing an Executive until the re-organisation of the people has been agreed to and determined on .
The Northern Star. Saturday, April 1, 1843.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , APRIL 1 , 1843 .
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ORGANIZATION . MR . O'CONNOR'S NEW PLAN . We refer with great pleasure to the plan of Mr , O'Connob for a New Executive , detailed in his letter . It is well deserving of public attention and consideration . Let the people read and ponder well upon it . Let them exercise their judgments freely . It is a matter of vital importance to our movement and Mr . O'Connob will not , we are quite sure , regard any section of the people as paying him any compliment if they should adopt it , simply because it his , without examination . He wishes only that
some mode should be adopted calculated effectually to serve the object of concentrating our energies and of preventing , the people or the cause from being sacrificed by any folly or treachery that might possibly arise among those who , as the Executive , would be entrusted in a great measure wi ' . h the keeping of the people ' s interests . Without at all reviving or wishing to revive any matter of discussion on the conduct of the last Executive , we may advert to the fact that many circumstances have
combined to evince the necessity of some such regulations as those which Mr . O'Connor here proposes in the Council of thirteen and in the public Treasurer . We think also that past experience has quite sufficiently demonstrated tho necessity of some check upon the amount of " responsibility , " which so small a body as an Executive Council of five might be disposed to assume in the putting forth of documents by which the whole body might be compromised , and the liberties of our best men endangered .
We have read with some degree of care Mr . O ' Connor ' s plan ; and we have no hesitation in avowing our conviction that its arrangements are admirably adapted for tho remedy of some very seriouB mischiefs from which we have before suffered ; and for which remedies must be provided before the Organization can be again put into that state in which the people either can or ought to have confidence in it ; while at the same time we think there are parts of it which require to be carefully reconsidered , and , perhaps , to be considerably modified . We think also that there are some
matters for which it is absolutely necessary to make provision , and for which this plan of Mr . O'Connor ' s does not provide . We fear also that some of the arrangements contemplated by this plan might , because of the stringent character of the law , bo attended with some considerable difficulty , if not doubt . And though it might be thought that we are stepping off our proper ground , and invading the " legal territory" whioh comes more naturally under Mr . O'Connob ' s own inspection , we are yet certain that he -will take kindly our solicitude that any new effort which the people
may now make may be quite sure to be " all right and safe . " Upon all these matters , we Bhall , jQ all probability , speak more fully hereafter . W « now point attention to them as proper subjects of deep and anxioas consideration for the people . We would gladly hear the people ' s own thoughts upon them , before we enter into details . We have never beea disposed to Bet up out ovm opinion with any undue prominence , though we have always conceived the people to be entitled to its honest expression whenever we . imagine that we can thus serve them ,.
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THE CHARTISTS AND THE MAGISTRACY . The length at whioh we have this w « efc given the trial of Cooper and the other Chartists , at Stafford and elsewhere , have precluded the possibility of
onr giving the debate on Mr . Ditncoube ' s motion , most important as it is . We regret this exceedingly , but have no alternative . To have gives anything like a decent abstract of it would have occupied more than doable the space that we had left , and to murder it we bad no inclination ; feeling sure that however strong and just may be the objection to " old news , " the people would be reasonable enough to know that the paper can but be filled , and , on so important a matter , would prefer waiting till next week for the entire , to having a murdered serap of it .
As we cannot give the debate now , we shall reserve the bulk of our remarks on it till they can be read in juxta-position with the speeches upon which we comment , a ^ we think that the fairest way . But we cannot permit the fact to escape notice , that the " House" and the Government absolutely : refused to meet the motion of Mr . DUNCOMBE at all . There can be no doubt that if they could have prevented his making the motion they would have done so ; for they were evidently not a little '' bothered" with it . The AttornetGeneral , as defender of the
Magistrates , showed infinitely more of the lawyer and less of the man than on the trial at Lancaster . It must have been a galling task to his honourable mind , if his bearing at Liverpool and Lancaster have not left on us a perfectly erroneous impression of his individual and personal goodness of character . He was compelled to have recourse to the mean aud dirty subterfuges of his craft . To blink wilfully and resolutely the question at issue , and to conjure up a phantom of his own with which to fence , instead of meeting Mr . Duncohbb ' s facts and arguments , most of which he entirely passed over ,
and some of whioh he grossly—we hope not wilfully —distorted and misrepresented to eke out his own case . Mr . Duncombe complained , on the petitions of the parties , of tho hardships inflicted on a number of individuals by the illegal conduct of the Magistrates before trial . The Attorney-General replied by rehearsing his own very fair and courteous conduct to the same parties at trial;—as though the two cases had anything in the world to do with each other ! as though his fairness could be taken to excuse their illegal stringency ; as glaring a non sequUur as could have been urged
Another portion of the Learned Gentleman's defence of the " unpaid" was , that the petitioners had several of them been convicted ; as though a man who may have been convicted could not by possibility have suffered any hardship or ill treatment before conviction ! True , ha said the law was open to them ; and that if they could persuade Grand Juries to return a Bill , the Magistrates might be indicted for any offence charged against them , or that they might be civilly prosecuted for damages But could the ATTOBNEY-GENEBAibe ignorant of the fact tbat the Grand Jury before whom the bill of
indictment must have been preferred , woald be made of the accused parties themselves , and of the folly , therefore , of any body dreaming of so acting t Did he not know that poor men cannot prosecute for damages ! Would he , as counsel , undertake a cause for any man who was neither able to pay his fee , nor to pay an attorney for preparing brief for him 1 How contemptible then to offer these men the alternative of the law ! with the cose also of O'Neil upon his lips ; in which the law was appealed to , and , though the guilt of the Magistrates was admitted , redress was denied to the injured party , and the Magistrates were actually
commended by the Court in the same judgment which pronounced the subject of commendation to be an illegal act ! ! The sum of the whole matter is this ; tbat the refusal of this inquiry stamps the condemnation both of the Government and the League . It brands the Government with partiality and cowardice ; and it shews th « League , of whom the Magistrates complained against are part and parcel , to have been the real Simon Pures " whom though the Government perfectly know all about it , thry fear to meddle with , even when a good and fair case is thrust into their hands by those very Magistrates themselves .
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EMIGRATION . —WHERE TO . —AND HOW TO PROCEED . It is well known that we have not been advisers of Emigration . We have not been of those who have advised the people to forsake the land of their birth , to seek in other and ( oft-times ) inferior climes , that comfortable living and free position which they ought to enjoy at home ; and for the enjoyment and securement of which we possess such ample means . We have rather advised tbat the people should remain in their father-land , and learn to use common sense in the application of the illimitable means of comfort and well-being at their disposal .
Yet we know there are those who are heartsickened at the present position and prospect of things in England ; and who deem it prudent to scrape together the remnants of their shattered " fortunes" and all but absorbed savings , and betake themselves to distant lands , there to seek fox that protection and freedom denied them by THE SYSTEM at home . To such it is important to know where to go to , for the best ; and how to proceed in their arrangements , so as to secure themselves from the gross impositions and oppressions practised upon them by hordes of hungry vultures who hover round emigrant ships , at both ends of the passage , aud fleece the unknowing most unmercifully .
Some months ago , we announced that a firm and undeviating friend of the working classes , Mr . Pitkethlt , of Huddersfield , had made it bis business to inquire into these matters ; and bad undertaken a voyage to the United States of Nobth America , to see with his own eyes , aud judge for himself , as to the truth or falsehood of the many glowing representations tbat have been made to induce Emigration to that quarter of the world . For this purpose he has traversed over several of the States , particularly those of MASSACHUSETTS , NEW YORK ,
Rhode Island , Pensylvania , Ohio , Michigan , Illinois , Wisconsin , and New Jersey . He has been to look out , and ascertain the actual state of things in these places , so as to judge of the desirability , or otherwise , qf Emigration ; and to ascertain the best and most economical mode in which Emigration , if determined on , can be accomplished . He has returned to England from this mission ; and we have made arrangements with him to publish the " Notes of bis Tour" in weekly portions in the Star .
We should have given his introductory letter this week ; only that the trials at Stafford and Leicester have preoccupied our space . It shall be given next week ; and the following week we shall commence to publish the " Notes of the Tour . " The introductory letter is to put the reader in possession of the reasons and inducements Mr . Pitkethlt had to undertake the labour he did undertake ; while tha " Notes of the Tour , " will , as may readily be iafer *
red , give tbe particular items of information tbe traveller picked np by the wayside , during his long journey of thousands of miles . The " Notes" will be followed up by a number of general observations detailing the impressions made on Mr . P « - kethlt ' s mind by the facts he has made himself conversant with , and the reasoning and opinions he has heard from persons on the several spots he has visited .
We may state now , to those who may be intending to Emigrate , that it is Mr . PiTKErHLv ' s strong desire that no one should depart their native land , unless under complete arrangements for entering upon hhb land at the place of their intended destination . He states that from the immense numbers that flocked to the United States during the last and tw . e > previous years , there is a great " redundancy of hands " in every department of labour ; so that when labour 13 obtained ( a thing now next to impossible ) it is uniformly followed by a reduction of wages . This also tends to reduce wages at home ; for if we are to compete with the " foreign manufacturer , " we must , as a matter of course , produce c / waperihan he does ; and we shaU n ©» i be able to produce cheaper if the wages of laboo r are higher .
Under proper arrangements Emigration might conduce to the advantage and benefit of tbe Emigrants ; wad we believe a scheme by which this can be accomplished will be developed during the course , or at the end , of the publication of the information and advice we shall so shortly be enabled to lay before the public . But the crowding together of such vast heaps as have been thrown into the several States of Nobth Amebica , without system or plan , or defined object , bas worked to tho great disadvantage of all concerned ; both ta ^ Emigrant aud native workman .
We also learn from Mr . Pitkethlt , thai tie people will de well not to listen to all the glowing tales contained in letters from * friends " who have already gone out ; as they are likely to be greatly deceived if they do . Ha mentions that before he " went out" be saw in the " Weekly Dispatch , " some letters from a person of the name of Cole , dated from Wisconsin territory ; and which , from the glowing descriptions therein given , induced grea .
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4 THE NORTHERN STAB ,
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 1, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct644/page/4/
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