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THE IfOETHEEJS" STAE. SATURDAY, MAY 22, 1841.
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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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"FREE" DISCUSSION ! PACKED MEETIXG ! WAY TO GET " SUPPORT * TOR THE WHIG MINISTRY . ( Reported by a Stranger Present . ) The Whigs of Manchester hare this week held a meeting , for the purpose of supporting Ministers , under circumstances which bnt too plainly proclaim the wretched condition to which the * bloody faction" is reduced . They had the impudence to call their meeting a public meeting ; while the measures they took were such as to effectually exclude the public . The meeting was called by the Mayor , in pursuance of a requisition , very numerously signed ; the major portion of those signatures having been obtained so that a trick might be played offnponthe pubiic ; and that , by means of this trick , the p lace
of meeting might be packed , and afavoorableopinion respecting Ministers thus secured . The trick was this : a large number of tickets were prepared , purporting to be addressed to the requisitionists , and to them only . The following is a copy of this ticket ; first premising" that the meeting was called for eleven o ' clock : — " As one of the requisitionists , you are requested to attend at a quarter past ten o ' clock on Tuesday morning . " , ' These tickets were extensively distributed amongst all persons , whether requisitionists or not , wherever those distributing them thought they were . safe . Scouts were entrusted with them by hundreds , to ferret out those whom they could depend on . Warehousemen , overlookers , and bangers-oa of every
description , and even persons from a distance ^ totally unconnected with the town of Manchester , had these tickets given to them . In fact the writer of this report , thongh an inhabitant of a town sixty miles distant , and who was only in Manchester on private business , was presented with one of these tickets ; and he was accompanied to the meeting by four other gentlemen , not one of whom was a requiatianist , or indeed hardly ever saw the requisition even when printed ; but all whom had had tickets presented to them as requisitionists , and they were admitted to the meeting by the private entrance in that character . By half-past ten the public began to assemble , and en attempting to enter by either of the usual passages
they were repelled by parties who refused to give either their names or authority . On further inquiry it was discovered that persons were in the meantime procuring admission through the police-office in another part of the building , and on proceeding to the spot , we found this passage lined on the inside with police on either hand , and ticket-bearers only admitted , one by one , with the most jealous scrutiny and precaation . On one side was a person , s&id to be the son of a well-known Whig and member of the Corporation , distributing tickets of admission-to approved individuals who presented themselves unprovided ; but most respectabl y Conservative gentlemen were distinctly and positively refused . One of them , to our knowledge , asserted Mb right to enter
as a Commissioner of Police , and succeeded . The ¦ writer of this report , accompanied by the friend above alluded to , presented himself at the private entrance , and readily obtained admission on producing his ** ticket . " On entering the large room , be found it about half filled with persons who had been admitted in the same manner as he had ; while large crowds of persons were waiting in the portico and in the street , in front of the building , every one being refused admittance if he was not possessed of a ticket . " Indeed , the following fact , as given in the Manchester Chronicle , of Wednesday , will shew the extent to which thi 3 system of exclusion was carried , and the resolute determination to have none but thoroughgoing Ministerialists present .
" Mr . Robert Gardner , an eminent merchant and manufacturer , of Conservative politics , and an ardent friend tofree-trade principles , had engaged , on the faith that the meeting was to be of a purely commercial and not political character , to move the first resolution . On first presenting himself at the police barrieade he fortunately had his ticket with him , but meeting a gentleman , of the highest respectability , who had been repulsed for want of a ticket , Mr . Gardner endeavoured to introduce him in nis company . Finding that the police were nnder orders so stringent that they could not allow this , Mr . Gardner went in alone , and remonstrated with the parties assembled , on the extreme severity of the measures adopted to exclude the public . He subsequently returnei to
communicate the result of his remonstrance to his excluded friend , but unfortunately left his . ticket behind him . On presenting himself a second time at the barrier , he was rudely refused admittance ; and on producing the resolution which he had to move , as evidence of his title to entrance , the officer in command of the police exclaimed— ' Take that man into custody ; ' and he was , in point of fact , actually ejected—thrust out—by the hands of the police ! " Of course the police-officer would -never have presumed to have acted thus , had he not received distinct and positive ordersfrom the presiding authorities ; so that the case amounts to this . The Manehester Whigs , with the Mayor at their head , first entrap a Conservative gentleman into a promise of co-operation with them under false pretences ; and
when he ventures to remonstraU against the unprecedented and unwarrantable steps they take to pack their meeting , they actually seize a pretext to get him tamed out with insult and even violence ! Itispnly of Manchester Whigs and Manchester Corporators that anything so utterly despicable , unmanly , and brutish could be predicated . " By these means the room wa 3 fully three-fourths fillea with " Reguisitionists" who had not signed the requisition ! As a sort of pretence for this trick , the committee of arrangements went through the farce of submitting their resolutions to the "Requisitionists , " and taking a vote upon them . All this time , and until after the clock had struck eleven , ( the advertised hour for the business of the meeting to commence , ) the doors were kept closed , and the public excluded !
Before the doors were thrown open , the Mayor assumed the chair ; and he rose to open the business of the day simultaneously with the appearance of the first batch of the persons constituting the public After the doors were opened , not one word of what he said could be heard by the meeting ; for he spoke while the persons who had been excluded ( until a majority had been packed iato the room ) were entering . He is reported , by the Manchester Guardian , to have said , " He had taken the chair according to the power vested in him by law—( hear , hear jhe wished to allow fair and free discussion—( bear )—be hoped no one would advance principles he was afraia of being controverted , and that the meeting would patiently listen to any observations made .
Any amendments to the resolutions to be submitted , go long as those amendments were in accordance with the subject for which this meeting was cpnrened , should be submitted to the meeting for its decision- He hoped that , a 3 Englishmen , they would respect the laws , and would conduct themselves with that peace and decorum becoming the important subject they were this day met to consider . "—( " Hear , hear , " and a cry of " Down with the Whigs !") A Mr . Alderman Kat rose to move the first resolution w be adopted by the public meeting ; and Sir Thomas Poxike seconded it . Both these gentlemen were heard with the greatest patience and attention . Indeed , not a single interruption of any
kind or degree was offered to them . When the Mayor " rose to perform tire farce of putting the motion to the meeting , the Rev . Mr . Schofikld presented himself to move an amendment . No sooner , however , did he rise for this purpose , than it seemed as if hell itself were let loose . The patriotic , enlightened , " educated , " " liberal" Wbi # s Bet up yells , groans , hisses , and brayings ; some of them using cat-calls , and other artificial modes of annoyances . Not a word could be heard from Mr . Schofield ; and he was ultimately compelled to sit down , with barely moving his amendment in dumb show .
Mr . Elijah Drxos , who was in the "body of the room , called out that he would second the amendment ; and he attempted to go upon the hustings to offer to the meeting his reasons for bo doing . His progress thither was opposed by a gang of ** respectable" blackguards , who set upon Mr . Dixon with fiend-like ferocity , using their feet and fists in the most " educated" manner , and pushing about , hooting , and kicking in the most gentlemanly" style . For full five minute 3 did they succeed in keeping Mr . Dixon from the hustings , though he was not fife yards from it when he first set out to get upon them . During all thi 3 time , the Mayor , who had promised a "fair and free discussion , " and had palled upon bis friends to " conduct themselves with decorum-, "
actually stood in front of the chair , saw the manner in which his friends were using Mr . Dixon ; saw blows , and kicks given ; and never held up a finger , cr uttered a wora \ to get them to desist U ! Mr . Dixon , however , at last fought his way to the hustings , and his appearance there was the signal for another oatburst of " education" and " intellectuality . " The " broad-cloths" yelled most vociferously . The profit-eater produced his cat-call , and most * elegantly ** 4 id he use it . The sleek-looking , primly-dressed , "buttonless blackguard" Quaker might be seen in many an instance contracting his rigid saintly features , and hissing in most charming style , indeed , all the "ignorant , " " unedncated , " B low fellows" in Manchester could not have beaten
the " mpectables" at this most intellectual version cf ° fre * discusidon ! " After this had continued to some minutes , the Mayor , who had guaranteed , free discussion ; who had requested for every one a hit hearing ; who was not afraid of any of their principles being controverted j—fhe need not when he had so effectually jacked the meeting } r-wbo had called Hpon his friends to conduct themselves with peace and decorum ; actually had the impudence to pat it to the vote in his packed meeting , whether Mr . Dixon should , or Bhonld not , be heard ! The " RequisifcienistB , " on this cue by the Mayor , inliantly voted be Bhould not be heard ! and even after this * " educated" exhibition of " liberality , " the Mayor had the still greater impudence to go through the farce of putting the amendment to the ?© fce , when sot a single word of it bad been heard ,
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or a single reason allowed to be adduced in its support ! As might be expected , the " packed meeting , " who had refused to hear the speakers in Bupport of the amendment , rejected the amendment itself ! Actuated b y feelings of unntterable disgust at such " respectable" conduct , the writer of this report left the meeting , strongly convinced of the absolute necessity for an extended system of " National Education , " which should have for one of its objects the teaching of the broad-cloth-gentry how to beware themselves as well as the poor , despised , persecuted Chartists . The writer understands that , in an after stage of the proceedings , the following Protest was handed to the Mayor , and by him read to the meeting . It was also extensively posted as a large placard on the walls of the town .
M PACKED KEBETTNG . " Fellow-townsmen , —We the undersigned inhabitants of the borough of Manchester , attended at the Town Hall , this morning , from ten unti l eleven o ' clock , in consequence of the Mayor having convened a public meeting of the inhabitants of the Borough , to be holden tnere at eleven o ' clock ; and we having DEMANDED and been REFUSED ADMISSION at the door of the Police Office , ( all the other doors of admission being locked , ) and having witnessed the refusal of many hundred other persons , whilst all parties presenting a ticket
were admitted , do , on these grounds , PROTEST AGAINST the said Meeting being considered a PUBLIC MEETING of the inhabitants of the Borough , or competent to express their opinions , inasmuch as the room was manifestly PACKED when the doors were opened at eleven o'clock . " J . B . Wawkitn . " Thomas Flintoff . " John Barker . " JOHN MlDDLBTON , Jan . M Robert Bradlbt . " R . Keymek . " Manchester , 18 th May , 1 & 41 . "
In reference to this very proper and necessary protest , the Manchester Guardian tries to get his rienda out of the dirt in the following manner : — " Why these very amusing gentlemen should go to the Town Hall at ten o ' clock , when the meeting was called for eleven , we cannot conceive , and they do not choose to explain . Unless they wasted to pack the meeting , we conceive they would have waited until the tune fixed for the commencement of the proceedings . But they allege that " parties presenting a ticket were admitted . " No doubt they were ; tickets had been issued to the parties who signed the
requisition , and who were requested to assemble a little before the time fixed for the commencement of the proceedings , in order that they might determine upon the resolutions to be submitted to the meeting , and select the parties by whom they were to be moved and seconded . Owing to the Urge cumber of the requisitionists , no other room in the building could have contained them ; and hence there was a necessity for their assembling in the same room appointed for the public meeting . This proceeding was in strict conformity with the practice of former pnblic meetings in the town ; and its propri « ty is perfectly unquestionable . "
In answer to the lame effort of the Guardian , it may be observed that it nowhere appears that the protesting gentlemen offered themselves for admission at ten o ' clock . The doors were not opened for those who had not tickets until after eleven ; and with reference to the other portion of the Guardian ' s explanation , the following remarks from the Manchester Chronicle , published on the same day as the Guardian , dissipates it into thin air . The Chronicle says : — " We understand the Mayor affirmed that precedent existed for the preoccupation of the room by ticket-bearers , admitted on * by one , through a double column of police lining a private entrance , but we maintain confidently that no such expedient was ever resorted to
before . The requisitionists to public meetings do often assemble before the hour announced , to meet the authorities , and settle the preliminary arrangements ; but such meetings invariably take place in another room , from which , at the due time , the parties proceed to the place of publit meeting , when the chair is taken . The business at euoh previous meeting is strictly preliminary , and the public are expected to assemble meantime in the place assigned for open meeting . But the cards of summons issued on the present occasion , say nothing about preliminary business , and these were distributed to hundreds who were not requisitionists ; and by these means the place of public meeting was effectually packed before the hour for opening the doors . This , we repeat , was wholly unprecedented , and it utterly destroyed all the pretensions of the
assembly to the character of a public meeting . It was a mere party demonstration , to which , by their command of the Town Hall and of the police , the Corporation attempted to give somewhat of the exterior semblance of a Town ' s meeting . " Yes , the meeting was a packed one ! The Whigs of Manchester feel and know , that unless they had resorted to this new method of obtaining an expression of " free opinion , " their meeting would have been a decided failure I To prevent this , and to procure for their friends a semblance of support , they resorted to the miserable trick of packing the meeting . If they dare , let them call an outdoor meeting—and submit their resolutions to it . If they dare take this step , let them do so ! If they do not , the meeting—the packed meeting of Tuesday—will have its due effect upon the country , and no more .
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Mr . 0 Brie * . —We have much pleasure in stating that there is no truth in the rumour of O'Brien ' s ill health . A letter from him iB now lying at our office , in which he states that he is finable to account for the origin of the report , but that he is certainly not suffering from any unusually ill state of health . This letter was sent to us for publication in our last , but arrived too late for insertion .
The Ifoetheejs" Stae. Saturday, May 22, 1841.
THE IfOETHEEJS" STAE . SATURDAY , MAY 22 , 1841 .
AGITATION FOR THE WHIGS IN 1832 . AGITATION FOR THE WHIGS IN 1841 . Haying borne our full share of abuse for the well-merited odium which Whig deception has so unsparingly heaped upon the Whig party , we now begin to look about U 3 in order to discover whether or no one poor outcast of a provincial journal could have created so tremendous a storm against our friends , if unaided by their own malicious cooperation .
In 1832 , no amount of Tory money , Court favour , newspaper support , or oratorical appeals , could stay the anti-Tory torrent , or hold the Whigs from office . A succession of abuses spoke in language too powerful to admit of either doubt or defence . Every town poured forth its thousands of Whig backers , while not a few offered smoking incense in condemnation of the unmanageable Tory tyrants . Every banner floated in the breeze . Every patriot was at his post , and the leaning of monarchy to the breaking reed seemed rather to weaken than strengthen theca-use itprofessedto Eave . The nameof the King
lost its wonted magic , even with a people beyond all others enamoured of monarchy ; while the fervour of party , for the passing moment , induced some , ( we rejoice to say not many , ) to merge the Englishman ' s gallantry into the bad man ' s spleen . The King , then , was ne one , or something less ; the Queen was some one , and something more . In spite of all opposition , the "fiery Duke" was compelled to yield to the firikg people . His very house , the Englishman's castle , was to him no sanctuary . His name , theretofore a tower of strength , lost its magic in the storm of " peace and retrenchment . "
All this was , of course , in anticipation of what the Reformers promised ; and , so courteous was public opinion , that even Irish coercion , as the very first instalment of English justice , and the New Poor Law , the first of Whig gratitude , were , of themselves , insufficient to change the strong tradewind , which had just then Bet in in favour of general Whig policy . Still , in the teeth of these isolated acts , as they were called , was the cry of " down with the Tories , " raised at every single election . " I am a Whig , " was the only passport to public confidence then required by candidates , either in single combat , or general
conflict-The first general election , the election of promise gave the Minister a majority of two hundred in the House of Commons , the largest , as well as the most noisy , ever remembered—a majority quite sufficient to bring the Peers to their senses , and to have proved ( had there been a real desire to purify the system , ) that the bottom of the well being at length cleansed , he&ieforth the surface womld be clear . The intention , however , being transfer , and
not organic change , the Commons , m their strength , proposed only what the Lords could conscientiously subscribe to . The lower House , through its leader , Lord John Russell , declared it prudent to avoid collision with the other branch of the Legislature , except upon some grand fundamental question . The Noble Lord and his party , however , allowed their fundamentals to pass unnoticed , although compelled to submit to daily kicki and insults , until , at length ,
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the timidity of the Commons emboldened the unreformed Lords , and made a stumbling-block , which , if takea in time , might have been removed with a single breath . This truckling the people saw , but were yet silent and hopeful , until , at the end of about two years , the Whigs were compelled to taste the bitter fruits from their own tree , by seeing the old enemy strong enough to take office .
The elections of 1835 again gave courage to the Whigs ; and again , in 1837 , the possession of the Queen ' s name by the party in power , baoked by " exclusive dealing , " and French and Belgian policy poured into the young and confiding ear of a nation ' s Monarch in nursery tales , gave the Whigs another majority . Bat again did tyranny and presumption break down what promise and confidence had built up , and from that hour to the present , the acts of the Whigs have been the most bloody upon
record ; and now we ask , in 1841 , after sustaining a most disgraceful defeat , where is the enthusiasm—where the single WHIG CONFLAGRATION , so welcome in 1832—where the grand Glasgow , Birmingham , Weft Riding , Bristol , Nottingham , and all the other demonstrations of POPULAR WILL , then thought worthy of Ministerial courtship ? Where are they ? Where is the magic of that young and endearing name , bo fondly cherished and so successfully used as a spell to conjure up support bnt four short years back 1
In 1832 the Queen was told that she was a German . The people may now retort and say that the present ladyjias married a German pauper , to whom the skin-a-flint Whigs would have given £ 50 , 000 , instead of £ 30 , 000 a-year . Where , we ask , is the magic of that name now . ! This brings us to the grand question . We are told that it is in reserve , and that the old story , " Stand by me , and I ' ll stand by you , " is very current . Again we counsel Lord Melbourne against a repetition of this child ' s play , and , though reluctantly , the very Club announcement of the scheme , which is an ominous precursor of events , compels as to offer an observation-or two upon the danger of such a course .
When anything like justice has been done to the Eng li sh people , they have shown no disposition to quarrel with the maxim , < w The King can do no wrong . ' la fact , anxious to respect royalty and as English monarch , they have been more servile upon this point than upon any other . But the moment that a monarch assumes a power unknown to tho Constitution , and not frequently practised in darker ages , that moment will the people turn all thought from the Commons to the Minister and the Monarch . Let us then see how matters just now stand . And the Queen being once before paraded as a shield for Whiggery , aad the country being again threatened with such an obstacle to the public will , we are most reluctantly compelled to enter into some consideration upon the subject .
The Queen , then , though young , has , as the Executive , witnessed , unmoved , more inequality of law ; more injustice to her subjects ; more unjust persecution of her people ; more affliction among the working classes of her own set ; more degradation of females ; more ministerial , domestic , and colonial profligacy ; more popular dissatisfaction and discontent than has ever existed in England heretofore . Hence , she must , if she now allow herself to be tampered with by a profligate Prime Minister , bear the reproach of all these sufferings , which the people would most cheerfully hold her guiltless of . She cannot " run with the hare and hold with the
hound . " She must make her election between her people and her Minister . We must go further . If such a latitude were allowed to a monarch , what difference is there between such a Btate of things and a perfect despotism ! Nay , has not the practice , as far as it has gone , subjected this country to a perfect military despotism t Has it not rendered trial by jury a farce—the poor man ' s relief-house a place of degradation—the old man ' s alms-house a charnel-houseevery prison an inquisition—every policeman an inquisitor—every magistrate a tyrant , and every official a dictator 1
Having stated some of the acts , with which any improper interference of the Queen will make her personally responsible , as the Executive , let us see whether or no there is not already too much representative power vested in an English monarch . As the Executive , he is supreme and sole ; has a power of life and death . As Peermaker , he has a power which has been , recently , most injudiciously and extensively used—a power of making Peers of the partisans of the minister in office ; a right never
contemplated by the ancient constitution to be otherwise used than as a means of distinguishing the truly noble , without reference to political bias . In the House of Commons , no ministry deprived of the support of State paupers , royal servants , salaried officers , ministerial commissioners , and secretly paid partisans , could hold offce , even upon the present franchise , for a single month , while the unrepresented , the most numerous and powerful party in the State , are oppressed by the Commons and not relieved by the Executive .
ThuB we show that those two estates , over which the Monarch should have no controul , but over which the people should have all controul , must , as a matter of necessity , if once unfettered and freed from Royal trammels , appeal to the whole people , as the only means of holding office for a single season , while Court influence now makes them not only independent of public opinion , but actually presents the frightful anomaly of a nation divided against itself . Upon the question of Royal interference , some very chuckle-headed ante-diluvian scribe writes thus , in the Weekly Chronicle , under the head : —
"A DISSOLUTION—BUT WHEN ?" " The Queen , in answer to an address for the removal of Ministers , ( if carried , ) might reply , that their resignation had been delayed solely for the purpose of enabling the country to come to a calm and definitive conclusion upon the most important subject ever submitUd to it . Who could gainsay Her ? Who would dare to call the decision unconstitutional ? The object being not the miserable desire of prolonging official existence , but the wish to give additional weight and deliberation f the national will . "
So jabbers the consummate fool who wrote the nonsense about " no miserable desire to prolong official existence , " ( O ! ye Gods !) and " to give additional weight to national deliberation . " 0 ! ye Gaols full of national deliberators ! 2 ! But the Chronicle asks a question— " who would dare to call the decision unconstitutional J" We would dare , and do dare , to do so—we call it unconstitutional .
The Chronicle then draws some unfortunate precedents from the dark days of Pitt . Is it not , we may observe in passing , very strange that the Whigs are eternally compelled to draw all their precedents from Tory practice and " vice versa . " How is this ? But of precedents , we may observe that nothing can be more dangerous than a blind following of them . In fact , nethiBg more foolish than the custom of following precedent . A good act requires no precedent , while no precedent can either soften or re concile a bad one . The Judge who preferred
remaining shut up in his carriage when crossing a ford , preferred the chances of drowning to sitting upon the box with the coachman , because the coachman when inviting his Lordship could furnish no precedent for a judge sitting alongside his coachman , and his Lordship was coastitutionally drowned , but had the honour of dying according to preoedent . Acts of persons living without controul in barbarous clodhopping ages , will be found to furnish but sorry precedents for the government of our steam population .
Three or four of the Edwards , and as many of the Harby ' s , furnished Charles with precedents how to lose his bead , and Jakes how to lose his throne ; whereas , if Charles had followed those precedents , which every passing breeze bore , he might have taken his head upon his shoulders to the grave , and would now have been an unmutilated
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royal mummy , snugly niched up in Westminster Abbey , instead of being a vulgar headless trunk . Had he nsed the follies of his predecessors as beacons to point out the shoals which subsequent squalls and tides had thrown up in Ms stream of life , instead of using them as charts to direct him in his course , he would have been one of the best , as he was one of the most amiable , of monarchs that ever wielded a sceptre ; but he lived by rule and died by precedent , and peace be with . him .
However , as the ghost of precedent has been paraded , and as we look upon current public opinion and passing acts to be the very best precedents which a monarch in doubt can follow , and inasmach as a second "bed-chamber plot" is very likely to be tried , and as we feel convinced that a following of the precedent once successfully established may be moat dangerous , if attempted to be followed , we beg , for the protection of the much-abused , ill-advised , and misinformed Queen , to submit the propriety of the following resolution being proposed at those " nmtional deliberations" to which the notorious host of the Chartists invited them , and then persecuted them for attending : —
"That while we admit the maxim , ' The King can do no wrong , ' to be a just part of a just whole , yet do we deny the right of the monarch to continue a minister in office against the wish of the people , and a majority of the House of Commons . And , inasmuch as the present Administration is most obnoxious to the whole country , we respectfully , but firmly , beg to remonstrate with her Majesty upon the impropriety of Interposing bad precedents , or royal will , against national opinion , for the mere purpose of being surrounded by the friends of her youth , and who have been the greatest enemies of our order . A nation taken once by surprise may tolerate , as experiment , that -which it will not submit to as a precedent "
In another article upon the general question , we have entered fully into the Btate of parties , and their respective prospects , and shall close this with a recommendation to the Chartists to proceed onward in their anti-Whig course , while they keep steadily in view the certainty of a successful issue making them one of the two great political parties who must , henceforth , contend for ascendancy . The WhigSj as leaders , are tyrants ; perhaps a short training in the school of adversity may make them useful and willing followers of better men than themialves .
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THIRTY SIX !!! OVER ! THE CASTER'S OUT !! Nat , not bo , Mr . Groom Portbr , hia Lordship will Jhave a " back-baDd . " Dice ! Well , well , to be sure , was there ever in this " blessed world" such a set of cripples as our precious rulers , her Most Gracious Majesty ' s precious advisers ! We never knew such " gluttons" in the "ring , " even in the palmiest days of Belcher and Mendoza ; and , as for Tom Cribb , he swears they are out and outers . Their motto is "s ' oumis pat vaineu" In the first round they have got a sickner iu the " sweet breath . "
In the second they will get a finisher in the " bread basket ; " and , should they come up to the scratch again , the third is to tbe fought with Canadian battles . But Easthope tells us that the little noble pigmy Lord , who has no objection to a torch and dagger agitation to insure his salary , will , as a last resource , throw himself upon the country . Now , we tell him flat and plump at once , that , if he dares it , the country will throw him not back again , but into the dirt . He tried torch and dagger in 1832 , the smoke aad the steel were then on the right side , but let him now beware of creating an excitement which , if once raisod , will never be Eubdued till it exhaust itself in the
complete and entire annihilation of the order of the Noble Lord . Let " pot-walloping" agitators speak the language of intimidation . We sound a warning to tyrants , a caution to those who know not the deeprooted hatred which the people bear to every thing Whig and Whiggish , throughout the length and breadth of the land . We warn them , we tell them that the " Pile " is raised , and to be cautious how they put the match to it ! If there is one feature more disgusting than another in the new face which the Whigs would put upon deception , it will be found in tbe unblushing attempt to create an antislavery feeling , while they are aotually trying to shuffle the pea from one thimble to another .
The culprits are still determined to be at it , and we imagine literally propose to snatch no small proportion of the quarter ' s salary out of tho fire , of a protracted debate . Well , no wonder they should die hard , for die they assuredly will , notwithstanding the powerful stimulants administered by the daily quacks , and the weekly sedatives so copiously recommended by the consulting physicians . Yet all , all cannot save them , they still want the St . John Long coHnterirritant— " The scratch in the back , " which John Bull will by no means administer .
On Monday night , the confectioners literally fired an uninterrupted volley of " sugar-Btick" at the enemy , without having once hit the mark , or being honoured with a shot in return . Nearly a dozen had the mortification to" Spout , and spout , and spout away , In one weak washey everlasting flood ; While each succeeding pump , which Up and down its awkward arm did sway , " had the mortification of lacking anything but the dry ground of his predecessor to sprinkle with bis watering pot .
While thus the war proceeds in calm inside , the Chronicle " rides the storm" and " reaps the whirlwind" with the combined powers of " Great Jove " and " Rude Boreas . " A new chart of England is daily presented ; hamlets , never before dotted upon the surface of a parish map , are magnified by the modern geographers into townships , parishes , and wapentakes . It is not very long since a pawnbroker's back parlour was promoted to the style and dignity of a " Depdfc ; " a snuff shop received the distinction of a bazaar , and so taking was the fever of local distinction , that we knew an honest cobbler who gave the title of " menagerie" to a little cage with a little sparrow in it .
The Chronicle ' s " demonstrations" are very laughable . We extract the following from the most " powerful" and recent : —
" CORN LAWS " GREAT PUBLIC MEETING . " The three tailors in Tooley-street had a powerful demonstration on Tuesday last , on behalf of her Majesty ' s Ministers . They met at their guild at twelve o ' clock , P . M ., when Mr . Snip was unanimously appointed to the chair . Mr . Goose was requested to act as Secretary , and Mr . Cabbage as Treasurer . Spirited resolutions were unanimously carried , as also a vote of thanks to her Majesty ' s Ministers , after which tbe immense assembly retired to the ' Hole in the Wall , ' to complete the business by signing a numerous petition for cheap feod and high wages . "
On Monday last , Sir Thomas Potter had his demonstration ; and , on Wednesday , perhaps , the most important meeting ever held in this country took place in the spacious nursery of tbe Princess Royal , Buckingham Palace , Nurse Lilly in the chair . It would be vain to attempt any thing like a report of what we heard upon this stirring occasion . The speeches of the Baroness Lehzen , the Countesses of Normanby and Listowel , produced so powerful an effect upon the chair as literally to curdle the milk of the Royal Nurse , just as we hear of a whole dairy being soured by a sudden shook of thunder . One passage from the speech of the learned Baroness is worthy of being printed in letters of gold . She said , "Mrs . Chairwill not to
woman and my Ladies , I attempt harrow up your feminine , your delicate , and toosusceptible feelings , but can I allow the opportunity which now presents itself to pass 1—( No , no , and dapping by the ladies . ) No , I should be a base ingrate , indeed . Behold , then , ( said the Baroness , turning slowly and majestically towards the cradle , in which the Princess Royal lay sweetly slumbering , ) behold , the lovely object of all oar solicitude , the magio spell which has still more closely bound every Briton ' s heart to the royal mother . Behold the babe , whose first heavings we have witnessed , whose birth we watched , whose cradle we roeked , whose loved form we have bo oft caressed , and I ask you are you prepared to surrender such a charge into the hands of the friends
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of—— ; but , no , no ; no matter , he shall be nameless . " ( Here the name of Cumberland burst from all present , followed by long and loud cries of " No , never . " ) It would be vain to attempt a description of the scene which followed , tbe Princess , as if conscious that her dearest interests were at stake , litera lly sat up in the cradle and said " NO , WO ; NO !" This fact has been authenticated to the Sun , upon authority on which our excellent contemporary assures us he can implicitly rely . Nurse Lilly came to her milk , as if by magic , at the sound of the voice of the Princess , and the demonstration proceeded to pass the following resolutions , moved by the Baroness , and seconded by the Countess of Normanby : —
Resolved , "That Lord Melbourne be requested to stand by tu as we have stood by him . " Carried unanimously . Resolved , " That the Ministers who promise us 4 sugar sticV and ' buttered ban , ' ate tnerery way entitled to our open and undisguised support " Resolved , " That we do hereby pledge ourseWesto resist the introduction of Sir Robert Peel , and the Tories , by all the constitutional means in our power . " Carried unanimously . After which a council was held in the anti-room , and the demonstration peaceably separated .
Then follow the powerful demonstrations of Town Council men , mayors , and aldermen ; and then o private correspondents , and then of a meeting of repealers , at the "Coal-hole , " and then the Ward meetings , and then the opinions of the shop-boys of the provincial press , who know that their bread comes from the baker , and their sugar from the grocer , and that's the extent of their knowledge ; and then comes the open column glossary ,
CORN LAWS AND
COMMERCIAL REFORMS . " Out apace ib too limited to give any thing like a sketch of the enthusiasm which pervades all classes of society , and which is hourly becoming more and more manifest in all parts of the country , in aid of the great , the important , and statesman-like commercial reform , so nobly proposed by her Majesty ' s Government . " So much for the Chronicle .
Never was the weakness of a party so manifest as that of the Whigs in their present deplorable situation . A debate worthy of running into the third week , and not a single hit made by a single friendly journal ; but , on the contrary , staggered morning and evening , and knocked down weekly by their friends . The poor Chron ., the morning gun , looks for its old wadding to serve for a second shot . The Sun , the evening gun , has no powder even for a report ; while it aotually gives us a sore throat to look upon the cold poultice of long primer , in stereotyped column .
The Globe " genteels it , " but says nothing either way . The Weekly Dispatch has astonished us by his ignorance of the whole subject . The Examiner Bghbau / ide of the principle , but dips deep in tbe sugar crock . Grevillb Brooke is too much taken up with the "Rake ' s Progress" to read what others say upon the subject . George Henry Ward is obliged to fly to tbe shades of the great statesman , now no more , for precedent . Neddy Baines still sings bis lamentations to the tune the old cow died oft and sounds bis cracked horn like a huntsman , in the hope of collecting his scattered hounds after a bard day ' s run , but no one hears him , or harks to holloa , while the country
whelps keep yelping away to fill up tbe cry of tbe leading dogs ; and , of the whole Whig press , the Spectator is left to pick the one bit of marrow from the bone for which the two hungry dogs are fighting . The Spectator makes the only point . He says , " What is the charge of the Whigs against the Tories ! It is just this—that the Whigs say , although you oppose us , yet you are resolved , when in power , to perform what we now promise . " This , the Spectator most shrewdly observes is thetruecase , truly stated by the Whigs . The changes are necessary , and while the Whigs merely promise them , to insure a renewal of office , the Tories will perform them when they acquire power .
This is we ll put by the Spectator , and constitutes , in reality , the great , indeed the only difference . In the debate , it was something refreshing to find Mr . Duncombe daring to mention the case of the whit * slaves , bnt he was afraid to put the saddle upon the right horse , and to tighten the girths . Now , the fact is , that the Mmnchtster Guardian has just said it , — " it is a straw , " and by no means could " Ceres" have furnished a lighter one for a heavy breeze . It is a Btraw , and is so very light that bad any other been tossed up , it would have bad equal support .
Let us suppose the question to decide the fate of the Whigs had been , Is the devil black or is the devil white t If the result was to be similar to that which is expected from the direction to which publio opinion shall drive the present straw , we should have all the Bishops claiming acquaintance with the devil , and all the saints calling him their honourable friend ; each party swearing to a premature knowledge of the fact as to his Satanic Majesty's colour .
Of one thing the Whigs may be quite certain—If they come t « the country , they had better " look out , " for , most assuredly , a rougher handling no set of feeding patriots ever yet got . A promise of sugar-stick and hot rolls will not be an antidote to remova years of lawless plunder , tyrannical sway , and despotic oppression . The poor may be in their cold baBtiles , but they will not be forgotten ; the rurals may be bottled np for the occasion , but John will draw the eork and let the spirit out ; the captive may be sick , silent , dead .
or at hard labour in his dungeon , but a fierce and terrific howl , a horrid noise , will ask where are they , and wherefore are they there ! Have you not asked for public opinion before , and have you not filled the gaols , for two years , with men who violated no law and received the best of characters ? When the Tories were in they transported for slight acts , but when they incarcerated for opinions , it was always from the higher classes they selected victims . You , too , have transported a greater number and for slighter offenoes than the Tories .
Give them Frost ! roar him in their ears , and Dorchester , and Glasgow , and Birmingham . Give them a belly full of Chartists , and no quarter . You have nothing to expeet from them ; and when you have annihilated the enemy before you , then we shall rejoice in bringing the awkward squad of the metropolitan and provincial press gang np , in close column , to teach them how to storm a Tory breach , dislodge a Tory position , and to take a Tory garrison . Yes , that shall be oar next work ; for let the Tories rest assured that publio opinion is now too strong to be either Totified or Whiggified , and that we do not use them to beat the Whigs for love of them .
The Whigs have stated their desire to be an appeal to the national will , and yet we find the Chartists , at public meetings , as systematically insulted as ever . But , how have the mighty fallen ! Would the fiery inflammable pressure without have borne a three weeks' debate within , in 1832 , without igniting ! No , truly ; but that which served as a match in 1832 , is now but a wet blanket .
Chartists , if the " Plague" should attempt to effect their objeot by gold , and to bribe a single one of your leaders , take no excuse , suffer no apology to justify his sudden conversion , leave that to the slaves of office , while we boast of our consistency . Down with the Bloodies ; take our word for it they are in the situation of bankrupts who would put their name to a promissory note to meet a sudden emergency . They are merely bidding fora renewal of confidence , to betray it for seven long yean . Better they should , as they will , be driven to a union with the olden enemy—tbe Tory faction .
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They will unite before they surrender , but fc y manoeuvre weakens them and strengthens us . \ y have the choice to stand alone and conquer orb divided and perish . '• ¦ ^ * O'Connob has said to us , within this week " L » ME LEAVB THIS CELL A COBPSK , BUT LET Ho ' co * . PROMISE BE MADE TO SAVE MY LIFE . " Have at tha Bloodies : good Chartists !
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WILLIAMS , BINNS , AND THE CH ARTISTS
versus THE CORPORATION OF SUNDERLAttn clique ? ' WH 0 LE 0 F T »* wa 8 Ik our last we were only able to give a brief »* count of the all-important victory gained over Tory trick and Whig policy by our S undetittd friends . The meeting of which we now speak was convened upon a requisition , signed by ninety-two of what an called respectable Whigs ; and a Dr . Brown , inth absence of the Mayor , took the chair against the
vote of th » meeting . However , the r eception which hoi otherwise much respected by the Chartists experienced at their bands , fully proves the folly 0 # even friends hoping longer to blindfold the wideawake , " wild-associates" of Chartism . We have not room for his Whig palaver , but may say , in p assing that the wUd-uns made every point , hissed every . ' thing that ought to have been hissed , heard ererr * thing with r « npect that ought to command respect and " whewed" and whistled at all that wanted masic to make it at all passable .
° The Whigs moved a resolution of confidence ia the ministers , and a Mr . Wright moved and a Mr , Potts , an Atiorneyman , seconded , an anti-minist erUl amendment ; and this brings ns to the cream of th « joke . Yes , tbe manner in which Williams and Binn . the very Castor and Pollux of Chartism in the North , avoided Scylla without falling upon Charybdig in their course , at once gives tbe lie to tbe many charges of Toryism so freely made against our party .
In " another part of our paper we give th « speeches of Binns and Williams , and every thing else worth reporting of the meeting . They y , beautiful specimens of Chartist speeches , and when read , who will say that we are ill-behaved when in conflict ; here we have a pacificator complaining that such is our training that a single wave of ths hand seats , silences and " uncapB" us . But wherein consists the value of the whole proceeding t Why , in this—that it was not sufficient ,
in the estimation of our friends , to be mere anti-Whig and chequered-Tory , but they were resolved to be " whole hog" Chartists , " bristles and all . " ( We thank our South Shields friends for the happy term . ) Yes , youngsters might have been satisfied with the amendment , which would have damned as effectually , but our young veterans were not to be caught with chaff . This is the right course—this is the way to add strength to our party and dignity to our cause . We can beat them both if we are bat united .
In looking over the Morning Chronicle ' s lamentable catalogue of Whig meetings , we do not find an mention of Sunderland , Edinburgh , Stockport , Birmingham , and hundreds of others , but we do find , as . a test of national will , a note from a correspondent , informing the Chronicle of" a resolution passed by the Betbnal Green Auxiliary anti-Cora Law Committee "—of a special meeting of the Manchester "TOWN COUNCIL "—of DEMONSTRATIONS at Southampton , attended by the Mayor and twelve others , and of DEMONSTRATIONS
at Belper , Acton , Torrington , Mostyn , Bangor , Carnarvon , Flint , Town Council proceedings at Edinburgh ; and he brings up the rear with an Irish rump of the real old Goat , Lord Chablemoht , and the hacks . Ah 1 ah ! Alas 1 sorry substitutes for the high-sounding Reform demonstrations . Bristol in flames— Hurrah for the Whigs . " Newcastle on fire— "Down with the Tories . " The Duke attacked , and compelled to fortify Apslejf douse— "Up with the people . " Glasgow Green alive with people . The West Biding assembled Nottingham and thousands of others;—but , bah it ' s all bother ; we have them now 1
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THE ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION . Never in our lives did we insert any production with half that pleasure which we derive from the publication of the above document . Let those who still doubt the march of intellect , compare the address of the "bakers' dozen" in 1841 , with th « address of the General Convention in 1839 , and say , who can long resist such a torrent of improvement .
It throws the whole of the former documents far in the shade . It expresses well , in a condensed form , what cur usurpers have spent eight nights in mystifying . Yes , here you have the whole question , as far as regards the interests of the working man , and in the same new as we have repeatedly laid- it before you . You will only be injured by the contemplated change . It will be found by our report of the proceedings in Convention , that tbe members have resolved themselves into a Committee to watcb , in fact , into ft
corps of observation . Now , if they are necessary , and , in the language of the Grbenacbe Chronicle , we say , " Who will dare to doubt it ? " let money be at once sent for their support . Let no time be lost . Mr . O'Connor has already handed overall the funds collected for the Convention ( £ 60 ) , and the members cannot live upon air . Let every locality send its mite without delay , and let every name be sent off by Sunday night ' s post , to be added to the National Petition . Let this be done at once , and no mistake . Their exertions deserve well of the country . Up » then , Chartists , send your pence at once .
We understand the petition of 1841 will outnumber that of 1839 by as much as tbe address of the latter year outshines that of the former period . Upj Chartists ! drink no beer this one night ; send it fol the prisoner , the expatriated , and the cause , and may God bless the donor ! W « are requested by our York friends to correct an error respecting the signatures to the York petition , stated in our last to be 247 , while the numbers are 1 , 247 , —the greatest amount of signatures ever appended by the working men of York to any petition .
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DANIEL AND THE " MISCREANT CHARTISTS . " The report of the thrashing Dan received at the Crown and Anchor from the " miscreant Chartists , " will be read with intense interest , As to Ms joining the physical-force or the moral-force Chartists , we beg to assure him that if be went down on his knees and begged and prayed for the remainder of his days , that not ten Chartists in England would join him , believe him , or confide ia him . ' No , no ; his day is gone by I
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MR . O'CONNOR AND HIS ENEMIES . Wa have long abstained from saying even a word upon the frightful persecution of which Mr . 0 'Con » o » has been for years the victim , but which has recently shewn itself in colours too vivid to be mistaken . We now ask if there is one single instance upon record of an imprisoned man being suffered to be thus attacked in his absence I We h » v « m bur possession documents and evidence to prove » deep conspiracy against O'Connor , in whioh Lord Brougham , Mr . Hume , Mr . Place , and many of the " new move , "have for years taken an aetiv * part ; nor is Mr . Wakley altogether free from imput * tion . We need no more . We have more than
say once cautioned O'Connor against hia over-coBCiH * tory policy ; he has begun to feel its effects . However , it iB more than disgusting to see slander coming from the very parties , whom , when o ppressea O'Connor defended rikht and day-in season aoj * out of season . If this is to bo the patriot ' s reffar ^ we shall very soon find patriotism » *« r X , modity ; and yet , singular to say , o ™** ^^* * saw O ' Connor yesterday , and testates *^ f . * £ never in better health and spirits , and that fie ^» able to smash as many more of them . ^"" "J-a people leave all to oae h » d , / h'l e j »^ S teiA-Kiirsasffig ^
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A THE NORTHERN STAB . ¦ ¦ -.- ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ - -
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), May 22, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct707/page/4/
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