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* EEEIOIAl CHARTIST SONG . __ millbbs' " WeTe soldiers fighting for oui ^^ kin *" TF eie soter Chartists , hand in hand , -rvtermined to be free ; Qnrroiee ii hard through all tha land , Tbai voice ia liberty . Let Tories rage and WbigB assail , Xo danjers wQl we dread ; But oinrard with the temperance gale The donoua " tidings spread .
CHOETJS . The Charter let all people ring ; The Charter will our freedom bring ; « Tis now onr own—we see it near ; While Temperance guards the front and rear jj he battle ' s won— day * began ; ^ be pot and Ilthy pipe are gone ; Ttatut&lism shall be one VTUii the great Charter Union . Sot B » ftUy " we c ^ ioer self , ' Our » PPetite » and aU ; •* . poison cup , and ill-got pelf , T bVwonnwood and the galL For misery retreats apace , 4 s dnnkutf customs die ; Till all we found in freedom * race , To &eedoE " s rescue fly . Chorus , &c
© tit mnnber s are incr easing fast , The p iedge will millions gain , iui raise * mighty host to cast Away the tyrant ' s chain . qtjj iesds are cool , onp bodies strong , ^ ud mind assumes its reign"jTe'lJ aid no more to practice wrong , Bat love and truth maintain . Chorus , &c Onr Charter stands each traitor shock So firm in reason ^ might ; Jjid , based opon th" eternal rock , n ' p&i < k to aU iw light TTiti jnS " pois'd in every part , To bless this woestraci earth , ^ jid kmdling joy from heart to heart , To health &R& peace gives birch . Chorus , ic .
jj brothers , then , we'll brothers be , And kaad in hand go on ; ATffiiou inong the good and free , iad soon the work is done , "ffe need no help from class or creed , If -wBiimen are but true ; Jor . oisee from all intemperance freed , And then all freedom ' s due . Chorus , &c Willias Hick , Leeds
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A CHARTIST SOXG . God bless oar native land , lUy HeaTen ' s protecting hand Still guard our shore ; May right its power extend , Isuxistry to defend ; Soon may oppression end All Britain o er . May jast and equal l aws Tpbold the people * cause , And bless the soil ; Land of the brave and free . ' God grant that it may be A land of Liberty To those who toil .
Tfee Charter u onr ngbt . Although oppa 3 'd by might , We it demand ! Lord , make onr rulers see Th&t men should brothers be , . And form one family All o ' er the land . TV . E ., Kidderminster March 22 d , 1 S 41 .
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The ADYENTURES and SUFFERINGS of JAMES WOOD , a Native of Ipswich , &c . Lodqoo : Simpkin , Marshall , and Co . ; Ipswich : Bonon . If x&ose who thini . of emigrating were to read this book , they would be very cautious and congideme before doing so . The writer is a working man , who was compelled , as many oihei men nate been , to think of bettering Ms condition by emigrating . He first intended proceeding to Canada , but afterwards altered his
intention , and sailed / or a province in lh . 6 Southern pan of Nonh America , owing to the -very flattering ficrores drawn of the settlement by the agents in onion . We need not detail all the occurrences tits ; happened to the writer from his embarking to id- landing in America , cor seed we notice in detail tie priTaaons he and the party endured before leaching the settlement ; we w ' Sh , however , just notice a few of the Tery agreeable circumstances wMci surrounded them at ** the settlement , " He proceeds : —
" We then walked through the road which led to the setdeaieni . At the Tery first sight of it we dis-¦ eorered hsw nmeh we had been imposed on . 1 $ tras a * Qd forest , inhabited by all sorts of wild beasts , and Jcnonuded by rocky mountains , higher than the clonde . We afterwards found it was Tery subject to storms ; indeed the-ttander and lighming were most dreadful , so Sat tha ground would sometimes shake beneath our fee : ; and there were nine months' rain daring the year . The a ? ent was there , and had hired a body of Indians , * ao had felled the trees , on a space extending about iaJfimfle is length and a quarter in breath , leafing fefiKumps standing , aad the trees lying one a « rosa «« sh « . The brush-wood was slightly Irani t off ; and
i few huts had been erected , with the stamps of trees aaadmgin the middle of them . These were intended to as so live ia . We found w « had been deceived , but it there -was no way of getting to a better place , we * ee forced to stay ; yet we did not now foresee the K&rhgs we should haTe to endure . In a few day 3 fia reminder of the people came up , and the first Bag thst we employed ourselTes in , was taking the fJasps up in the huts ; but the flies were as annoying a the setilemect as they had been in the riTer , so that Jt eonJd not get any rest in the night This fly , which ti about tie azi of a gnat , would bite throngh all out « Mbes , making great holes in onr legs , and causing asm to swelL The insect called the chigre woold
**> get into our feet , and make ns a » lame th » t we » sW hardly walk . This insect it Tery imall , but i t -& * into the feet and produces a bladder about the ea of a pea , which after a time bursts . They filled « r feet so full , that we had to take needles and prick » sb oct , or they would haTe destroyed our feet . The jrwmd was also corered with anta of all sorts , which " * wi& get into onr hats and swarm em beds ; and the p 3 a « -was also infested with scorpions , vhich annoftd » ctmtinuaUy by getting into our clothes . There was a «« ise & fly , that wou : d bite and breed a worm in the «• & . cated the beet-worm-which as large as j ¦ ¦ ft ¦ \¦ b
, grows * — - - — * ' -j * w w *» * s ~ w w m ^* r ^ »^** as end of the Uttle finger , and would torment ns in a f *« areadfal manneT . C-ock-roaches would also get B-Q car boxes and destroy our clothes . In addition ¦ ffcse sources of incessant molestation and pain , « ae -wets a ; so snates , which in the rainy Beason "WU harbour in the thatch of the huts , and some-™| M dr op doTn upon ear beda in the night , -when -we j * » to H sat pins torches and liuu ; them . There were ^ 6 e iortfi , the barber ' s pole , the coral snake , and < a * torn o goss , or b ^ ck snake , whose bite is instant £ *»¦ One of our people , when about to put on his Wv , found one of these maies coiled nn vnsirtR of it
« i besideB the sufiV ; rings caused by the insects , and j ™ Q saKT -we -were exposed to from the snakes and ^ tempens , we had other hardships to endure ; for *® £ Of oar people caaght the feTer , -wbich -was a bad 2 * a « ne , and made thanghakfi t « mb ) y ; and what *| « onr situation mnch worse was , our haring no ^ nous of any kind , except a small quantity we had ^^^ off from the ship . " P ^ v ^ 0 n ^ 7 *? contend with the 3 « annoy-~^ es , but with positiTe want of provisions , and ^ J were qui te glad at last to eat the flesh of rf > teyj , wnich they did not altogetbei xeliab &t t * - nadit not been for Indians supplying them ^ o food , they-would hare died of Btarration , the 7 aj » . n" ? Ee « i not follow the writer through Ids pages . £ * jf * said amply sufficient , allowing certain -r ^ &cks for statements which appear to 03 somesis exaggerated . W > di-M-hns * th « mrnrfa nf tKntiP
Jt ^ 'fe been lured on , and tempted by false hopes S » sedactrre promises , to think of emigrating . £ w object ot the aathor " to expose % system of /« Bee and cruelty praetiBed . by % comp&Dj of ^ wora oa & number of individuals and famUieB " «^ omparatrr ely d efenceless condi tion , " has been » fc ! Uaiaed ' *** ^ o * *^ ^ oe *; » nd we rt ?^ earnestly recommend any working man who wifcT * & ** £% *» £ » ppines 8 of himself , or his « *« « w famfly , in such an nndertaking , to read the Am entum of James Wood . " They are told in SSti / , language , and in a ample and an-2 ^ 1 style , about which there can be no mis-
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^ K ^ TE CONVINCING ARGU-»^ T AGAINST SOCIALISM ; or the per" ^ jrinciples of Robert Owen , completely ££ ?**?¦ By a Clerical Gentleman . London : netfaermgton ; ud «> W by » ll booksellers and new smen . ^ eelerical genttemM abOTenamsd has written this Z ™» t « expose tint abominable and atrocioua * toc ?* % 7 ? 1 > 7 tbe dis ^ sting name of Sodalim , «« n word is revolting in the Tery f&oe of it . "
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Of course we need not say that the Rer . Gentleman has most ably managed to effect his object . Every friend to " things m they are , " every admirer of easting institutions , every lover of our glorious eonsututionB in Church and State , every one who reveres the exalted actions and virtues of the anoient Jewish leaders—tbe Davids , the Joshuas , and the Solomons—will admit that justice has been done to all these subjects in succession . To satisfy even the moat sceptical upon these points , we will make a few extracts . First , then , for the virtues of a few ancient and eminent characters , who were the advocates of sound creeds , in preference to the mere proprietierof moral eon ^ duct : —
•• I will here cite a few instance * of , purity and virtue on the partofm »* -iatg that must , inevitably , put to shame all the Soeial foola in the world . I commence with the Jews , who , from Moses , through Samuel and David down to Solomon , were of the most spotless character , in the scale of hvmanily , thai can be imagined ! In the first place , tb « a , •« Moses was the meekest of all the men that were opon the face of the earth . " He was , besides a man of great and praiseuvrtty temerity , and went through many courageous and fatiguing acts of bravery , in order to be pure before the Lord ! Example : ' Now , therefore , kill every male among the little ones ; and kill every woman that hath known a man by lying with him : but , all tke women children that have not known man by lying with him , keep alive for yourselres . '—Numbers -mi . 17 .
" Iiow , I question whether all the Social miscreants pnt together could produce one such act ef courage as this—even with their champion , Owen , at their head ! But this is only one instance of bravery on the part of religionists . There is no panel ty of such deeds on the part of the ancient Israelites . I could revert to some scores of equal weight i But , as my limits in this place will not permit such a display , I shall content myself by citing only ft few that happen to be of the most stbtkisg character for their purity * ad sublimity . From the evidence of Joshua , as well as that of Moses , we know that the brave Israelites came by stealth npon whole nations of the Gentile ? , and put them to the sword—that they spared neither age nor infancy—that they utterly destroyed men , women , and children ' and left not a son ! to breathe . ' *"
Our author does not confine his illustrations to the children of Israel alone : he is most careful that a few of the distinguished " good works" of more modern days ehoald be brought forwa-rd . He proceeds : — " Having clearly shown , from the few examples only which I have quoted , that the children of Israel were persons of exemplary character , I shall now expatia ^ upon a few of the most prominent virtaes that have shone forth , with redoubled splendour , in ' Christendom . In running the mind over the' long list of brilliant acts on the part of our Christian progenitors , and afterwards looking npon the supine and braveless inactivity of theOwenites , one cannot help evincing a feeling of deference towards the farmer , and just contempt for the latter . Let it be remembered , that it is not the
tremulous coward , Robert Owen , or his colleagues in principle , that can boast of having conquered Chili , and other parts of South America . No , Reader , the claim of that meritorious deed lies in a purer quarter . It was'our Christian ancestors who , about three centuries ago , so bravely cut to pieces the Peruvians and their neighbours , for tie loTe of that metal which their godly vanquishers conceived to be the root of all good ' —who manfully hunted the naUvtstbrongb tbe woods with Wood-hounds , for daring to suppose that the natural riches with which th « strata of that neighbourhood abounds were all their own ! And s « rve them justly right : What business had £ A « y to suppose , for a moment , that GOLD ( the production of their native country ) was ever intended for such copper-coloured wretches as themselves ?
" The worthlessneas of Socialism is here , at once , exhibited for , had the conqaering heroes ¦ of South America been fraught with Social ideas , the conquest of Chili and Peru would never have been effected . They could not possibly have gone half way through their glorious task—their ever-memorable pleasure of hunting hnman beings -would bare been thwarted—their hands and faces could not then have been distinguished from those of more pusillanimous texture , by tbe lustre of crimson hue given to thfem by wading through heathen gore—and the dreadful consequence would have been , that the aborigines and their posterity might have remained in quiet possession of their native homes , to this dsy , with itnputdly ! All this valour was exercised to the glory to God : for , the conqnering JSainls , on the 6 th of January [ 1533 , ] laid the foundation of the city of Lima , which they afterwards called the ' City of the Sings , ' as a memento ot oar Saviour's receipt of presents to the Eastern kings in Bethlem on that day of the year . "
He comes still nearer the present day . Alluding to the known disposition of ihe sceptical to pretend that tbej can discover faults in the " unco' guid and rigidly righteous , " he says : — " These free-thinking -wretches will , perhaps , upbraid me and my colleagues with the forgeries of Dr . Dodd , and tbe Rev . Peter Fenn , of Bloomsbury : but , are not these Soeial loggerheads aware that the unfortunate gentlemen in qusstion ( like the one previously s-poken of ) were but nurslings of Mother Church , ' and therefore in such pitiable circumstances of penury as to claim ourcommisseration for their misfortune ? Sow , had they been more enviably situated in life—L e . had they been persons revelling upon the voluptuous
enjoyment of eighteen hours' work per day , and the wholesome perspiration that usually accompanies such healthful exercise—there might then , indeed , be some ground for censure on the part of my opponents ; and I myself would not go out of my way to palliate the crime ! "ily tale would be endless were I to name ail the persons who have perfnmed the atmosphere of Christendom with the sweet eSavia of their virtues . The most striking example of the kind that now occurs to me isj the eminent Bishop of Clogher—a personage who , for prtriiy ami delicacy , -was never equalled ! And , if newspaper reports may be relied on , another reverend gentleman was lately within a bow-shot of attaining the same degree of celebrity . "
And be makes the following jast remarks upon the unparalleled effrontery of Uwen and his disciples : — " iir . Owen and bis admirerB bave more than once had the daring impudence to make remarks npon the incomes of the buhops and other dignitaries of the Church ; as though they ignorantly supposed that the corpulence necessary for a prelate—a servant of God - could be supported without turtle ! And they have endeavoured to shew that the yearly incames of some of the rich are too enormous , and consequently such as to add to the miseries of the poor—especially as the partakers of wealth ' are usel ess men , and do nothing for what they receive ! ' ? fow I will prova this Owen to be a liar : —TVhat man of sense , for example , would
question the utility of such an ecclesiastic as the Archbishop of Canterbury ? And , having admitted tbe utility t > t the man ,, who in the world could think of offermg him less than such a thing as £ 40 , 000 ayear and 176 livings ? Then there is the Bishop of Durham—a very useful and necessary officer , this : and I do not suppose that the poor gentleman receives above £ GO , ooo a year ( which is very little more thaja & £ 1 , 000 per vreek ) for all hU trouble ; and little enongh too , God knows . Besides these , there are upwards of a score more bishops , -whom i have not named—to say nothing of deacons , arehdeacons , rectors , and other clerical officers in great abundance ; and their dignity must be supported—and thst , too , in a manner befitting their several stations , according as they rise in office superior t » each other .
Yet , I suppose that if a parcel of Social democrats , or even half-Social dissenters , had their own way , they would cut down the income of the head primate to less than £ 6 , 000 per year ; and how would a bbhop be able to live at this rate ? Why . good God J it would be scarcely sixteen guineas per day . ' and what Would this be to snpport a ¦ ipirii-n&i pastor V Such a vtean salary would evidently starve him by inches' Can they imagine , for a moment , that because the Cuurcb has recommended , for tbe subsistence ot the poor , % crust of brfc-id and a cup of cold water , ' with plenty of ' grace , ' ( by way of dessert , J that her own existence can be sustained by the same paltry means ? Nothing but the most consummate ignorance can be accepted as a plea for socb a monstrous idea *"
We shall make one more extract just to show how easy it . would be to burke Socialism , if one rule -were invariably and constantly acted upon : — " Listen to me , ye graceful antagonists of the abominable system of free discussion ; and , as a brother in principle , I wiH put you up to one move , at any rate , how to endeavour to burke Socialism , and thereby dissuade the public from embracing the same : —Whenever that ye may hear of an instance of an Oteenile becoming cognizable to the laws of his country , by any misdemeanour—though it were only once a year , or even ence in seven years—take especial care that each and ertry of you have your ayes directed towards him with an eagle's glance , so that the minutest peccadillo in his character escape not your acictereess . Let youi
united exartians be employed in an endeavour to rake vp all tbe most trivial faults he has committed from his cradle ; so that these , added to the one with which be may stand particularly charged , form a preposterous mound that shall appear hideous in the eyes of the community at targe . Hold him up to public view , and tell the world * that the perpetrator of these crimes is a Socialist : but , forbear , I beseech yon , to offer the slightest remark npon the manifold delinquencies that are—hourly , daily , weekly , monthly , and perennially committed by persons who are not Socialists . For example : —Courvoisier , who was recently executed for
the murder of Lord William Russell , gave us no provocation for spleen , beyond the commission of his crime , except that he was % foreigner : hia having been a Proiettaai precluded the necessity ot oar evincing any party feeling towards him , in a religious point of view . But , mark : —Had he been a Socialist , it would have been our nnbonnden duty to expatiate more fnlly npon his theological sentiments than upon the enormity of the crime of which be stood convicted ; till the fact of his being as Ovxxite became resounded , not only from John o" Ctroats ' B to the Land ' s End , bat through every country and every clime , from the world ' s girdle to the frozen pole !"
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The FLEET PAPERS , No . 12 . London : Pavey / T , HolyweH-Btreet , Strand . This number tfves a portrait of " our Old King " sitting in Mb cell . As a lithograph , it ia well executed . The topics adverted to in the M Papers" of last Saturday , are the conduct of Mr . Tbornhill , and the various measures of the day . In alluding to the spirit which prompted his persecutor , Mr . Thornbill , to immure him m the Fleet , Mr . Oastler thus describes it ;—" I followed it , Sir , through all its ramifications , into its lurking places in the meeting-houses—the markets —the exchanges—the institutes—to political dinnerson to the hustings—into the House '— : up the backrtairs '—to the Cabinet , and from thence , with sorrow ,
I traced it even to the bench of Bishops ! Then its blood-steps shewed ine the path to the factories—the New Poor Law Bastiles , and to the dungeons of its dei «< Jed victims , in the different prisons of the kingdom ,- until , at last , I found that it had successfully educed and deceived you , and in the vain hope of crushing me , it had persuaded you to find me a home in this celL It has not , however , as yet , found me a grave ! It has only furnished me with a new starting point , after giving me a little breathing-time . * . * * "It is all one and the same spirit which insmlts royalty , deludes and defames the aristocracy , degrades the clergy , robs and oppresses the working classes , and Insults woman !—It is an evil spirit of opvetousness , which can knew no rest , until it has destroyed all that is
religious , virtuous and noble , and has encircled in its iron clutches , what it terms the " respectability" of England ! It has persuaded our governors that nature has made a blunder , that she can no longer be trusted in the matter of population , but that certain rules and tests of its own , must be applied to diminish " tbe multitude of toe people . " She has discovered that Ihe Bible ia not true , and that now " in the want of the people ia the king ' s honour ; but in the multitude of the people is the destruction of the prince ! " 8 ir , to this lie against nature—this treason against God , maybe traced all the evils ¦ which afflict this country—all the difficulties which annoy and perplex out governors—aU the oppressions and wrongs of the poor—all the danger to the rich
. " It Is becase ^ ur governors have believed tbat lie , that the rich and the poor are now " alienated heart and seul "—that tbijuovernuient and the people are mutually jealouq of * wSti . other—that tbe Church is in danger , and that the aristocracy is doomed ? That lie , sir , is the cause of the execrable New Poor Law . " It is because ' the multitude of the people' is believed to be too great , that measures hostile to nature are attempted to be enforced ; it is because the Bible is thus declared to be a lie—that religion is set at naught . It is thai -war against nature , which bewilders our mistaken governors , and forces them to acts , of which no other Government wa » ever guilty . They are all at sea , having thrown overboard the
compasswhich is Christianity ; they do not attempt Vo legislate for the people—their only aim is to diminish them ! Hence they have persuaded you , the landlords , that , if you do not send your ' surplus' population to be worked up in their factories , or to be poisoned in the Union Workhouses , they will eat up your estates ! whilst , at the same time , they persuade the factory population , if they are not allowed to feed on foreign corn , they will be pined to death ! % hey have , in a great measure , succeeded by the iiew Poor Law . ia separating the poor from any connection with the Boil ; they have , by deluding the people , nearly succeeded in forcing them to prefer the prosperity of foreign agriculture to our own . '"
We do not think Mr- Oastler ' s mode of accounting for the origin of the Charter , iB a correct one . It was not brought forward by any Malthusian manufacturers , to swamp the cry for the repeal of the New Poor Law ; it' it were , it ha 9 failed in its effect ; for Mr . Oastler well knows that the Chartists have been always the most opposed to the New Poor Law , and have always aided him ia his praiseworthy efforts .
Thb Schoolmaster ' s ExPt . visNT . ~ The able review of Harford ' s Life of Bishop Burgess , in the Eclectic of this moath , relates tho following story of Dr . Joseph Warton , when master of Winchester school : — " Warion was a man of taste , and had no mean talent for poetry ; but , like most men of the same class , be disliked philology , and that dislike entailed ignorance to an extent which incapacitated him for his high vocation ^ Of thiB fact the work before us supplies examples . He waa sometimes sorely put to it to get through the chorus of a Greek tragedy ; and his wit but ill sufficed to conceal his
embarrassment . While a scholar was reading tho puzzle passage , and was jast on the eve of ' sticking fast , ' the poetical preceptor would break out with a loud voice , and demand an account of noises among the boys , which nobody heard but himself ! So uniformly was this method of solving difficulties resorted to , that the late Bishop Huntingford was wont to say , he so well knew what would happen on the approach of a dark passage , that he of an eaid to the boy next him , ' Now we shall have a noise . ' During the settlement of the' noise , ' the reader was allowed to proceed as he best could : thus the t-lough was passed , and the work went on . "
The Pooa in China and the Poor in Britain . —It would not be easy to draw a comparison between the habits of the poor in this country and the cottagers of China , respecting the state of their household , because it is difficult to come at an average ; but I think that while the poor at home are far less happy , they are far more cleanly than the poor are in China . There is , perhaps , thrice as much contentment in that land among the villagers , but only onethird of the mind which is displayed by the lower orders in England . I will not be dogmatic in these
remarks , and proceed no further in prescribing an opinion than the enunciation of this fact , that careworn and half-starved faces are rare things in China . A plumpness of feature , cheerfulness of mien , and a gait full of animation , though without hurry , bespeak a condition of mind tbat looks on to-day ' s supply with complacency , and forward to to-morrow ' s chances without apprehension . The happiness and general prosperity of the Chinese are so conspicuous that they merit a short analysis , —From a workjusi published .
Cromwell and Charles the First . — Nor will his participation in the King ' s death involve him iu condemnation with us . It is a stern business killing of a king I But if you once go to war with him , it lies there ; this and all else lies there . Once at war , you have made wager of battle with him : it is he to die , or else you . Reconciliation is problematic ; may be possible , or , far more likely , is impossible , it is now pretty generally admitted , that the Parliament , having vanquished Charles the First , had no way of making any tenable arrangement with him . The large Presbyterian party , apprehensive now of the Independents , were most auxtous to do so ; anxious , indeed , as for their own existence ; but it could not be . The unhappy Charles , in those final Hampton Court negoeiation 3 , shows himself as a man fatally incapable of being dealt with : a man who , once lor all , could not and would not
understand ; whose thought did not in any measure represent to him the real fact of the matter ; nay , worse , whose word did not at all represent his thought . We may say this of him without cruelty , with deep pity rather ; but it is true aud undeniable . Forsaken thure of all but the name of kingship , he still , finding himself treated with outward respect as a king , fancied that he might play off party against party , and smuggle himself into his old power by deceiving both . Alas , they both disctvered that he was deceiving them . A man whose word will not inform you at all what he means or will do , is not a man you can bargain with . You must get OUt of that man ' s way , or put him out of yours . The Presbyterians , in their despair , were still for believing Charles , though found false , unbelievable again and again . Not so Cromwell : " For all our fighting , " says he , " we are to have a little bit of paper ? " —No J—Carlyle on Hero Worship .
The Truth of Cbomwell . —In fact , every where we have to notice the decisive practical eye of this man ; how he driveB towards the practical and practicable—has a genuine insight into what is fact . Such an intellect , I maintain , does not belong to a false man : the . false man Bees false shows , plausibilities , expediences ; the true man is needed to discern even practical truth . Cromwell ' s advice about the Parliament ' s army , early in the contesthow they were to dismiss their city-tapsters , flimsy , riotous persons , and choose substantial yeomen , whose heart was in the work , to be Boldiera for them ; thi 3 is advice by a man who saw . Fact answers , if you see into fact . Cromwell ' s Ironsides were the embodiment of this insight of his ; men fearing God , and without any other fear . No more conclusively genuine set of fighters ever trod the soil of England or of any other land . —Ibid .
Anecdotes of the Feench Revolution . — What is the guillotine ? a tap on tha neck , " said Lamourette , as he gaily took bis 1 ast meal with his comrades of the same chamber . Then , warming by degrees , like a true Catholio pries } , be enlarged , upon the immortality of the soul a $ d its consequences . It was a common thing for the prisoners to light their pipes with the copy of their indictment . The offio / al defender ot Gosnay , who had been an officer of bussarB , in order to savebim , wanted to call evidence
co prove that his head' was not sound .,. " My head , said the . accused , " was never cooler or sounder than now , wh 8 h I km on tbe point of losing it : officious and official defender , I will not be defended by you ; let them lead me to the guillotine . " A mob of people surrounded the cart into which Custine was climbing to go to the scaffold , and shouted out , " To the guillotine 1 to the guillotine J" — " I am going there , you noisy rabble , " said tbe old general , *• I am going—can't you have a little patienoe !"Monthly Chronicle for February . Jii f 1 fi ¦ r » - ^ i *^^^^ » r » nf if r it a *
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M . Hose , a Scotchman , who , in his capacity of TJBher of the Convention , arrested Robespierre , died iu Paris , on Friday , in the 84 th year of bis age .
The Northern Star Saturday, March 27, 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , MARCH 27 , 1841 .
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MR . STANSFELD . —IMPORT AND EXPORT DUTIES . Wb promised to examine this subject , aa soon as time permitted ; we now redeem our pledge . At a meeting of our Solons , lately held at Leeds , Mr . Stansfkuj , in praying support for a petition in favour of a remission of certain import and export duties , did , as is that gentleman ' s custom , produce for tbe mystification of hia audience , a statistical table of profit and loss .
As Mr . StaNsfkld professes to be an orator of the Ciceronian school , he endeavours to divide Mb speeohes into the three required parts , a beginnin g * a middle , and an end . In the instance before us , however , he supplies tables for rhetoric . In his Brat seotion of table No . l , he asserts that a removal of ihe import and export duties would effect a saving to the inhabitants of Leada of upwards of £ 300 , 000 a year . In his second section of table No . 1 , he contends that the whole population of the Empire , estimating it at twenty-four millions , is taxed £ 2 per head annually for State taxation , and £ 2 per head annually for the benefit of individual
classes , making a total of ninety-six ' = millions annually . Ia his third section of Table No . 1 , ho assumes that each working man , in Leeds , earns twenty-four BhilliBga per week ; and , allowing each family to consist of five persons , that the effect of the import and export duties is to impose a tax of four shillings per week , or one-sixth of the whole earning , upon each working man . Thus Mr . Sxansfeld proceeds ; in the dull path of arithmetical calculation , but being more of an orator than an arithmetician , he closes his remarks upon Table No . 1 , aud at the same time introduces Table No . 2 , in the following glowing terms , well worthy a disciple of the fructifying school . He says : —
" I have Btated the . saving to the borough , by the removal of the protecting duties , to be £ 300 , 000 ayear . I have supported that statement by the evidence given before tha committee of the House of Commons , and it is on . the strength of that evidence that I ask your sanction to the petition 1 shall propose . But , Sir , that estimate , In my humbie opinion , is much underrated . I have no hesitation iu expressing my belief that the advantages to be derived from the change to this borough would amount in money to one million a year . Some gentlemen may be astonished , but let them consider tbat this sum is only £ 7 a head on tbe population , and that the difference between a good and a bad trade would soun make this . I hold in my hand a rough eatimate , " &O .
How this is reversing the MonFETH plan , of asking for a principle more extensive than facts warrant ; for Stansfeld , to insure his petition , aasures his supporters that facts go three times as far as the tables upon which he is ready to roly ; and he says that a removal of the import and export duties would be a relief to a working man with a family ot five , not of £ 10 a year , but of £ 35 . Stansfeld , iu supporting Table No . 1 , has not the fear of the last section ' of Table No . " 2 before his eyes ; for after appropriating the saving to the respective purposes of each family , he proceeds to give 4 , 060 adults , not of the working , but of the shopkeeping classes , an annual increase of income amouuting to £ 400 , 000 ; in short , he adds £ 60 . 606 to his million sterling of annual saving .
Now , suppose we were to admit Mr . Stansfeld 8 first section of Table No . 1—that is , that the removal of import and export duties would effect a saving of £ 2 per head to working men , and taking hia census of 112 , 000 of a working population to be correct , we have a saving of £ 224 , 000 per annum ; and we may , according to all middle-class practice , justly adopt the last section of Table No . 2 , namely tbat upon this saving of £ 244 , 000 per annum to 112 , 000 of the working population , 4 , 000 of the idlers would make a profit of £ 400 , 000 per annum . This position we shall presently maiatain by facts ; while we deem it but common justice to our readers to give the whole of the fabulous table , which is as follows : —
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Saving as per Table No . 1 .... 319 , 956 Tbe calculations in the Table art founded on the average consumption of the empire , but it is manifest that the inhabitants of tv manufacturing town Consume more food than those in the agricultural districts . The average consumption ot sugar in the borough of Leeds , as computed by five of the prin cipal dealers , is 4 lbs weekly for a family of five persons , the duty on which on a population of 150 , 000 , would be annually £ 102 , 317 , being an increase on tbe statement of Table 1 of ... 59 , 817 Tbe average consumption of
coffee , estimated by the same parties , is 6 oz . weekly , for a family of five persons , and the duty on the population of the borough would be £ 14 , 589 , or an increase on the statement of Table 1 of io , 839 It is difficult to form an estimate on bread , and meat , and vegetables , Ate , but take the extra consumption at Is 3 d ., and you have 75 , 000 Increase of wages Is . per head weekly , assuming this to be the difference between good trade aud full employment , and bad trade and partial employment , The population being 159 , 000
Of which threequarters are the ¦ w orking classes ... 112 , 000 Deduct one-third for Children under thirteen years of age . 37 , 0 « 0 Leaving men , women and children 76 , 000 At 1 b . each per week would bt perannum 195 , 06 *
Increase of profit to shopkeepers , manufacturers , and merchants , and such as are not included amongst the working classes . Suppose tbat out of the remaining population of 38 , 000 , that 10 , 960 are adults , and thai 4 , 000 of these realise £ 160 a year more under an improved trade , you have 400 , 000 = 740 , 656
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Now , ia tfee above table , we see as much ignorance , folly , wickedness , and deceit , as could be well crammed into so many lines . First , what does Mr . Stansfeld say , and how does he introduce his " extravagant" and " absurd " calculation ? Why , he fays that his plan , instead of £ 2 a head , will give to the working classes £ 7 a head per annum ; and how does he preserve his calculations ? Why , by giving £ 400 , 000 , or nearly one half the whole sum for the whole population of 150 , 000 , to 4 , 000 of the male adults of the money-mongering class !! that is , instead of £ 7 a head to each working man , he gives £ 100
a head to 4000 of the idlers ; or , in other words , admitting the third section of table No . 1 , to be correct , and ready to swear , as "we are , that the last seotion of No . 2 would be r ? ther under the mark , Stansfblb has the old caV eulations in his head which the twenty-three nw aey-mongers'who voted for him well understood , V / hich may be thus translated ;— •» . 112 , 000 of the w orking population , save £ 2 a bead by transferring them from the import anl export sharks to tho master sharks ; and you see , gentlemen , plainly , tfiat if we can effect BO diving an object , 4 , 000 of or * order will pocket the whole £ 224 , 000 of saving . , and £ 176 , 000 into the bargain , for our trouble !"
Huhk , beforf . a committee of the House of Commons , atakes use of these remarkable ¦ words : —« O .-t » ialj ; I conceive that having paid the private taxes , they are the less able to pay the publio ' . axes . " What a fool Stansfeld must be to tell the people , in plain English , " You Bee that the Borv . ble is between the local and the represen-
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tative tyrants . ' What we leave , the State will hav »; and what the State leaves , we will have ; so whoever pul 8 the load on the ass , you must bear it . " The orator , however , proceeded with his speech , to which he-attempted to give a beginning , a middle , aud an end ; but we must begin where he left off , in order to put the gibberish into English . He concludes with an admission , that hia . calculations will appear " extravagant" and ' ' absurd' ? to every * one but himself ; and then he mouths out a bit of the usual stnff about •* an all-wise Creator , " always forgetting that an all-absorbing set of devourers mar that all-wise Creator ' s every benign and wise- intention . " - ' .- -. ' . ' ¦ " ' .. '' ' -- ¦ " ¦ ¦¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦
Mr . Stansfeld , in hifl exordium , tells his hearers that" this is not a party question ; that Liberals and Conservatives in Glasgow and Manchester , and the nmettud the Chronicle , all advocate it . " Now , if we had not direct evidence furnished by facto before us , we should rely upon the very circumstance of such a junction as the very strongest proof of con .-, damnation : for , although all political parties have united in its support , it by no means deprives it of its distinct class suspicion ; as politics are always forgotten when profits are tinder consideration .
When did Whigs and Tories , the Times and Chronicle , separately , or jointly , advocate any one measure for the benefit of the working classes t And are they now , after never-ceasing hostility and opposition , likely to unite , for the first time , for the benefit of those upon whose ruin they have one and all grown rich J , . , . ; Mr . Stawsfjjld , having first comfortably established the fact in his own mind , that every working man in Leeds earns twenty-four sbillinga a week , proceeds to argue as if each of the 112 , 000 of the working population consumed in proportion to
the remaining 38 , 090 of the merchants , manufacturers , and shopkeepers ; and then he proceeds to read extracts from an examination of Messrs . Hume , PoBTEtt , and McGajiaoa , before a Committee of the House of Commons , still going on the presumption that working men consume aa equal share , even of ail imported luxuries ; and ho selects one answer out of many thousands given by Mr . Pouter , which answer numbers 2651 , and which goes to show that the reduction on the duty on sugar would " produce a great moral benefit . " The whole of the examination of these three gentlemen , who
don't appear to know a cow from a hay stack , is directed by the examiners to the especial fact , that a repeal of the Corn Laws is of primary importance . And now we . beg the most anxious attention of our shrewd readers to the following admission of Mr . Solon M'Gbeoob . He says that , " so far from a total and immediate repeal of all restrictions upon the importation of foreign corn having a tendency to lower rents , it wonld have a direct contrary effoct . and would considerably increase them ; ' and he
accounts for it thus . He says that " the land necessarily thrown out of cultivation would be devoted to tho production of vegetables and animal food ; " and in these very articles Mr . Stansfeld , in Table No . l assumes a reduction of £ 225 , 000 annually , and , in Table No . 2 , he augments the reduction by £ 75 , 000 annually , for the difference between good and bad trade , by a removal of duties . Now let us have a plain matter-of-fact word or two upon this part of the subject .
What has been the great , the almost only argument of the League 1 Why , that the Corn Laws raised renls , and thereby raised the price of food , and thereby threw the produce of English labour out of the foreign market , and sent the cheapfood-foreign-produce at a lower price into our markets . But here we have the anomaly of dear land , which must produce dear beasts aud dear vegetables , and which , we are told will leal to cheap meat and cheap vegetables ! In fact , Solon Hume says , in answer to a question put by the Chairman—but we give it all , question and answer ; here it is : —
" Have you ever made a calculation as to the amount of taxation which the community pay in consequence of the increased price of wheat and butchers' meat , ¦ which ia occasioned by the monopoly now held by land ?—I think that a tolerable calculation may be made of that increased charge . It is generally calculated that each person , upon the average , consumes a quarter of wheat a year . Assuming , then , the amount Of duty that this wheat paid , or the price enhanced by protection , whatever that is , aa far as bread goes , to be 30 s .
it would bs that amount upon the whole population . Then you could hardly say less than , perhaps , double that for butchers' meat and other matters ; so that if we were to say that the corn is enhanced by 10 s . a quarter , there would be that 10 s . aud 20 s . more as the Increase of tbe price of meat and other agricultural productions , including hay and oats for horses , barley for beer , as well as butter and cbeese . That would be £ 36 , 000 , 000 ayear , and the public are in fact paying tbat-as effectually out of their pockets as if it did go to the revenue in the form ot direct taxes .
" And , consequently , are less able to pay any taxes that the state may require far its support?—Certainly ; I conceive that having paid the private taxes , they are the less able to pay the public taxes . Now then we have Mr . Solon M'Gregor assuring us that tho removal of all restrictions would increase rents considerably , while we have Solon Hume assuring us that the effect of our increase of rent would produce a reduction of no less than thirty-six millions annually in the price of produce ! that it would raise rents by about thirty millions anuually and reduce produce by thirty-six millions annually !!
Seriously , will Mr . Ex-Mayor Stansfeld , ( who surrendered that dignified office with the philanthropic intention of becoming national schoolmaster , ) solve this riddle for us ? for we defy any man to swallow the pill in its present shape . Well , Mr . Stansfeld supposes each poor man ' s family to consume as much sugar , coffee , bread , beef , vegetables , and even timber , aa any of the aristocratic families of the kingdom ; and , indeed , so minute are the Humane Society in all matters connected with the poor man ' s comfort , that Mr . Hume complains that the duties upon timber to protect our Canadian produce , obliges builders to erect the roofs of poor men's houses without a sufficient pitch to keep out wet , but , on the contrary ,
they make them too flat . O , how merciful ! how very merciful !! But Mr . Hume knows as little of building as he appears to know of agriculture ; for flat roofs are now all the fashion , even for Prince Albert ' s stables and dog-kennels , and why not for those who feed Prince Albert , horses , dogs and all ? It appears that the Tradesmen have had meetings at Liverpool , Manchester , and elsewhere , upon the subject ; and at Manchester * U Mr . Huskisson ' b alterations were urged as proof to show that the removal of restrictions led t » an increase of production . Why , who ever doubted the fact I But the orators forgot to produce a table of comparative wages , aad comparative comfort for the working producers , corresponding mbh tbe increased speculation—we cannot call it demand .
We fully admit that the removal of heavy duties leads to increased consumption , aad that inereased consumption leads to inereased production , and even to increased surplus- production above demand , which ia the producer's , ruin . We admit that taxes of any sort , injudiciously laid on , may lead to » prohibition Of the HS 6 of the taxed article . Bat , as Mr . Stansfeld and his coadjutors have stopped short just where working class interest commences , wo take the subject up at that precise point .
What , then , has been the never-failing result of all Mr . Huskisson ' 9 patehiog and botching ? The removal of restrictions has l « d to increased speculation ; increased issue of paper money , increased discount , commission , brokerage , and stamp ' duty apon bills ; increased insurances npon premises and shipments ; inereased taxation upon the fictitious property produced by the fictitious show of increased national wealth , based on fiction ; increased influx of agricultural labourers from Norfolk , Suffolk , Dorset , Somerset , Devonshire and Ireland , permanently located to meet a mere temporary and unhealthy increased demand for the moment ; an increase in the price of raw material ; an increase of production ; an increase of surplusage orer demand ; an increase of warehouses ,
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and wheat )! atd full , an increase of bankruptcies ; a decrease of wagAs ; an increase of poverty , and an increased perauneni labour . class in the manufacturing districts , who are for ever shut out from their old employments , and constituted into a corps of reserve for the tyrant masters te hold the rod of cheap wages over those to whofe a reduced trade , with jess speculation , would afford employment . But we will not go Mr . Stansfei » - ' 8 round-about way of giving each head of a family of five , aa increase of £ 35 perannum : we give it to him at
once ; and so long as he bae no vote to protect it , and Mr . Stanspeed has the vote , which is tie ljcenge to steal it , it is as sure to go into bis breecbeffpocket as if the mas gaveit of his own free will—that is-, in other words , suppose Mr . Sunsfbid ' s project to give toeach of 200 heads of families ia his employment £ 35 perannum , Mr . Stansfeld and his class would have the £ 35 , and £ 15 of labour into the bargain , for taking it . In fact , the Ogres see- that they have like the Abyesiniaus , eaten the prey in steaks , and how they want some one to put fat npon the animals for them to devour .
We find Mr . Stansfeld is beginning to talk of the land ; and , some time ago , the Mercury begun to * open upon the subject . Now , whit does Mr . StAtts-VELD think of this direct mode of carrying out the 1 benign intentions , of "an all-wise Creator , " whosename he dares to profane with his psotitmongering : lips . Let ns for one moment suppose , what we never for an instant believed , that the real object of Scripture Stampkeld and Co . is to aerva the labouring classes . Now , what would he think of this simple process : —Two million heads of fiamilies , of
five to a family , would pay a full rant for ten million acres of land , would live as well as Mr . Stanspeld , and would produce an annual overplus of the value of sixty millions sterling , in beef , pork , bacon , butter , milk , oheese , poultry , vegetables , dressed flax , linen , woollea cloth , and spun yarn ; and , without any pay , would be ready to meet a second Napoleon , aye , and the great tyrant of the North , and beat them both , if they dared to invade their right ' s , and we should hear no more of anny
estimates . Mr . Staksfeld only sees pimples ; he cannot see a wen . Let us , then , point out a few even of the pimples to him . Let us just see how our land at home i 3 disposed of , —the only thing , let it be remembered , which the natives should rely upon . Allowing the interest of the nasional debt , with collection of taxes , to amount to forty millions annually , —that absorbsthe whole valae of every acre in England .
Tbe Army and Navy estimates , and State Church of Ireland , fifteen millions a year , —there goes the whole rental of Ireland . The English State Church variously estimated , —we will take it low , —at eight millions , —and away goes Scotland . Then for Wales , we have King Cumberland , King Leopold * King Albert , Queen Adelaide , Queen Kent , Queen Victoria , Duke Sussex , Duke Cambridge , Duke Gloucester , and the rest of the Royal Family , with the court , placemen , pensioners , cabinetministers , and secret service money '; we think thtt fully disposes of Wales . Then we have the IsJe of Man for
twentyfour millions , with Judges , English , Irish , and Scotch Barristers , Attorneys , Bankers , Insurance Companies , Poor Law Commissioners , with their staff of Metropolitan and Rural Police , the Aristocracy , with the interest of four thousand millions of personal debt , to pay for import and export duties , for class interest , and the whole local taxation of the kingdom ; that is , if John Bull and Paddy and Sawney would just say " I'm tired working . " We ask Mr . StaNsfel » what pays every mortgage upon , every estate in the Empire ? What pays the rent of every
house 111 the Empire t for houses don ' t produce . What supports every aristocrat , parson , policeman , half-pay officer , soldier , sailor , middle-class man , fat horae , dog and bitch , in the empire , for they none of them work in a profitable way ? Is it not the lean , half-starved labourer 1 Nay , are not the labourers of this "improved" generation compelled to support the extravagancies of former generations , aud to keep up all the abuses of our unretbrmed times ] and are they not nightly saddled with tresh burdens by the representatives of Mr . Stanspexd ' s class , who presumptuously tell them that they can
pay all those burdens , and compete , without protection , with the nations of the world , who owe not a penny for our pound ? We now tell Mr . Stansfeld that , supposing England to possess an operative class of two millions five hundred thousand , it would b « wisdom in that class to allow two millions to remain idle and to be s upported by the five hundred thousand at full work instead of constituting a competitive population in the labour market , underselling each other , for the benefit of any blood-sucking speculators in labour and fictitious money . .
Mr . Stansfeld ceased to be the Mayor of a faction , that he may be the leader of a party ; but he has become the mere pack-horse of a section . The firm of Marshall , Stansfeld , and Co . has been the greatest failure of aU modern humbugs ; they had many advantages , and unlimited credit , and what has become of them ? Marshall , stupid man , allowed his name to be put to a letter , of which he did not comprehend a single sentence . The writer , in
his little vauity , betrays his principal ; Masshah . gets well peppered on all hands ; and there he is , mum-chance , not able to say a word in his own defence , or in support of hia borrowed plumage . The writer of J . G . Mahshall ' s letter , and the writer of a very silly article in Tait ' s last Number , upon the law of libel , is , we would lay a trifle , one and the same person ; and both productions bear evident marka of weak understanding , strong prejudice , devouring vanity , and unconquerable viadtctiveness .
Marshall , Stansfeld , and Co . have long sihcc discovered that a vote in the hands of a class is a genteel license to rob ; while the people are just now beginning to discover that without a vote to protect them , the possession of life , liberty , and- property are but so many frail tenures held by slaves for the benefit of slave masters . The people have now discovered that their oppressors stand Belf-eonvicted , Stanspbld and Co . coming forward , in the eleventh
hour , with grievances , a knowledge of which they confess to have had for years , but never divulged till they wanted to sava the people ' s pound from one plunderer , that they may be > able to rob them of a guinea themselves . Are they so- foolish as not to see , that itLftkeir exposition of abase they justify a resort even t » physical force , while the Chartists are expatriated and entombed for merely asking for future protection against what Stansfeld admits to be national pfander ! But the
truth , like murder , will out ; a , day of retribution will come ! God grant that it may not be one of vengeance , when that " all-wiseCreator , " whose saered name money-mongers dare to invoke , will scatter all the enemies of Ike poor with fire and sword , and drive the oppressors from the land ?! If man may dare to guess at coming events , the serious and thoughtful must see evident signs o « the near , the fast and irresistible approach of the avenging scourge . ¦ .... . , . _ j __ . ___ , trust
Thus we settle humbug the ninth ; and , we , satisfactorily , if not flatteringly , to Mr . Stassfeld . Just think of Stansmo . d talking of a earing of £ 7 0 per annum for an Itiah , Scotch , and English agricultural peasant , bv a remission of duty upon eugar , coffee , meat , wgetables , bread , and timber , not one of which they ever use , not even timber m the roofs of their houses , nor would they , rf it was duty-free ! How will Stansfbld take £ 70 » year from anlrishman's wages , wbO j SHABiun Crawford tells us , can only earn- £ 8 ; or fromthe wages of the SpitalfieMn and otaer weavers I For , be it remem . bered , Staksfkld takes the whole twenty-fouif millions into h is sweeping , " extravagant , " anil " absurd" calculations .
... If he ( SiAKSFiLD ) does not create too much irritation by the vivid picture which he pourtrays of his own and his fellow * ' by-gone follies , to call them by ihe mildest name , vre pledge wrtBrivea to ^ bary th © old system without a drop of Wood bein / r , ahed i and , should conflict come , which God in his mercy forbid , let those who have confessed wrong , and resisted right , bear the * full weight of their own temerity and injustice . Tbe votb , we say , is a license to rob when confined to » class ; the votb is ft title to pro . tection when possessed by the community .
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THE NORTHERN STAR . 9 ^^^™^""^^ "" —^—^^~^^ - ^^ - ^^~^——^ ¦¦ »^^^—— -. ^— ^ 1 B _| " ' ^^^^? '^ ' * . ^^ " ^™ ¦ ' " ' ., ¦ ¦ —— i !¦¦ i ' . —i t- ^^_ t — . 1 i ii . . imi _ ij __ i TT ~ MT ~ ^ I ^^^^^^^ m ^^^^^ i ¦ ¦¦ -
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 27, 1841, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct699/page/3/
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