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TO THE LANDLORDS OF IRELAND. J I.ETTXE IT.
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€havti$t dEtttcUwcncc
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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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To The Landlords Of Ireland. J I.Ettxe It.
TO THE LANDLORDS OF IRELAND . J I . ETTXE IT .
JIT LO&DS AXD GEMtEKEKj—I have BOW ahown gut an Irish farmer occopyiag 160 acres of Jwd tot t wenty-five yens , and requiring , at the wry lowert ^ Icalati ^ a capital of £ 800 to start with , haft , at the er piration of that period , if aU goes very well , no man than . fiT 8 cent , « £ 250 , aa tbe Mcamnlated ^ ap leinterest upon bu capital ; aad that he , hit wife , jndfiTB ebSdieo , bare laboured foe w mas ; yean for , scanty rabsTBteoee , -with bad lodging aad clothing ; ^ hoeas eampcnmd interest , at six pa cent , whkh is { be ieg » l interest of the country , would bare left him between £ * t > 0 and £ 5 M > in the woe tiae . Sacfeisfeu p ^ gjjioii ; -while lew laboniHS La Mudeuecoimud tan pounds after a life of toil , aton-aticm , oantainty ,
gad sorrow . I hive shown that farmers bare heavy rBsponnbffi Kgg , liabilities , aad calamities to contend against ^ jjey bare all the responsibilities rttenttaat apan . the payment of & settled teat , keeping die ttock together , supp orting their famHie » , and paying their way ; they jure to contend against the liabilities to which yon , u legislators and autocrat * , chose to subject them . They have the calamities , casuafttieB , aad fiaetuatioM
to which nature aad the markets expose them ; and in jjot one of those responsibilities , liabilities , or calamities , sra you participators . Yon drag the rent la tad h arvests from the capital , aad thus set them strugglin g for years to hold posaession by loans , for which they pa ? m many & »•*»»«* as high as 30 or 40 pet eeat ., rather than quit the spot upen which they have ^^ ed and to which they have become attached } While too . thus , free yoursel-Tes from all ehunren and changes ¦• inch may operate unfsvoirrably , you take advantage
of every tnrn which improTement by the farmert skill , ep iUl , and attention yield ; and yoa raise his rent as his reward for industry . Ttms do yon become not osily
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^ produce aad ito ocwqlis * F * . - " ^^^ y ^ *^* jbe fanner cannot so easily rid binmRTf of respon-B&Qity , fitf "" * as he must employ labourers ; and toot blighting infinenee operates against the interest of tfee labourers also , because the bad remuneration and uncertainty of tenure prevent the farmer from emploving mure than one-half the number of hands he would do , if freed from your eternal pulling , anzrmg , watching , aad screwing .
My Lords and Gentlemen , having thus inverted all the rules of Providence , having stinted aad limited temae to the standard of political power , suited to your otm interests , you haTe created a " surplus popu-JatJoa" wbjch y our friends , the political economists , now tell us " presses hardly upon the means of subnseaca . " Thus hafe you made paupers ; -white the teoaomiBts hire made slaves of the bees npon wboee hoaey the drones live ; and in exact proportion to the habHity of the bees to produce does your billet of idle dron es increase : and this is the whole , the sole , the oalyeacse of distress , dissatisfaetiQD , and discontent , witiA no powe ? on earth can remedy bo long as Q « system which creates and upholds it is allowed to continue .
y ow . my Lords s ? d G-entlemen , I shall enter into a rery frief , and I trust , -c ^ ear , fair , and unbiassed considerstion of my client's case . In the first place then , labour is the foandaticn of » H wealth . That is indisputable . The barren serfaee of your so il , unti l mace available by the poor man ' s labosr , has no mwe Talne than the ahapeieas block of marble , lough from the quarry , before it receives -value from the sculptor ' s hand , who puts the stamp upon it ; and even its value is but ideal , or rather it must be regulated by the price of the produce of the land . So with fevery luxury that you use in this world , from the
goKecss feast , the gaudy trappings of yoar persons , tbe sumptuous furniture of your mansions , and the splendour of your eaniages , down to the mere necessaries of life , —all , all are regulated by tie price ef labour : and having deteriorated the value of labour by your law of primogeniture , settlement , and entail , as also by tout whimsical mode of leasing groand for terms of years at fixed rents without reference to aTir "" produce or price , ( of which more hereafter , ) and also by bad tenure and destructive conditions annexed te occupation ; having by these complicated
errors < Jet £ riQr * ted the vain * of lafconr , you hare dragged the world with its cheap produce , -while you haTt Buothered the bees in tha midst of their own honey , lot all owing them the very meanest subsistence after all -, and you now vainly hope to limit suffering to those very producers , never reflecting that all otfcer properties , of every description and however guaranteed , ¦ wheibsr they be fixed incomes , salaries , or fluctuating incomes , and whether insured by rents , Acts or Parliament , custom , or contract , must , sooner or later , eatch the infection and take the disorder , which
ispoTerty . In this state of things , allow me to claim , upon behslf of mj clients , the fuB benefit of the latest , most b rutally concocted decree—flat decree which " threw the poor man upon his own resource * . " Beyond that I do a * t go ; and the fulfillment ef that I have a right to demand . The rich have thrown the poor " upon tbrir own resources . " 1 am satis ^ ed ; and yon having made the ) & & , I claim its spirit for my clients . Throw them , then , " npon their otra resources : * ' tboee " resources" are labour , health , and industry ; or peculation , fraud , and
tMevery . Which do you choose ? If the latter , abrogate and destroy all impediments to a full exercise of those " rescmrr-es , " by the repeal of all laws for the punishment of each offences . If the former , give to them the only means whereby in this world they can live npon their labour , their health , and their industry , which are their resources , by opening the gate of Nature ' s field , and allowing them to enjoy th&se blessBga for year aad their own adrsniare , freed from more artificial congtmint fJr « n is absolutely necessary for the existing state of society ; and , above all , allow each to have & voice in regulating the existing state of things .
My Lords and Gentlemen , the still and industry of the British and Irish people are proverbial all over the world ; pray bear in mind , of the people ; not of the gambling aristocracy , the speculating merchant , the basiling Churchman , the sporting Squire , or the shooting soldier , but of THE people . Is it not , then , high t ? TT ) a th ^ the system should be changed which prevents the one from wearing a mfficitnt portion of the dothes he makes , and the other from eating a sufficient portion of the food he prodnces ? Nay , more , that I ttsy not be out of fashion , I - will go upon " reciprocity , " the economist's caterer for all man's wants , by an
interchange of their respective surplusage ; and is it not passing straage that the producers of England cannot fxchsnge , with the producers of Ireland , their surplus produce , or any portion of it ? nay , more , that over the ngftlagon of supply and demand , they , whose very grU tfrusp depends upon a jeaion * watching of the blAvice , have no eontrol , felther direcilj or indirectly ? Kow , is not that very strange , very wrong , and reij j&aeh at variance with all the rules of free trade and " reciprocity ? " and yet those very people who cannot
level the waters , or stem the torrent at home , are asked to be free tnt ^ gw iritfa . all tte aailo&s of tbe earth , IB order that , by a " reciprocity , " or mutual return , which ii the meaning of " reciprocity , " they may get a ewnmaad over the Government and valuable produce of » D foreign countries ; while they cannot make a policenaa appoint a magistrate , sit upon a Jury , vote for a representative , or appropriate one acre of land to aationai purposes at home ' . Is it not disgusting * afenui nonsense , to hope to cram a starving people * ita saeo moonshine ?
ilj Lards and OenUemen , I hold that man in utter contempt , who , seeing and feeling the justice of his case , withholds aaj portion of it from tbe most jealous in-* peet : oB and rigid scrutiny . But in fact , politics and ocial arrangements have been so mixed up together of kte . that very many honest men are fearful of explaining felly the great social changes which they anticipate from the success of a political measure . We know that * € ai-mjuded men who dread the resnlt , will from JBere Utt £ rested motives give a decided and dogged "Pposition to ihe proposed change , withont adducing "" J better argiunent than : •¦ I don't like it ; " " / don't * a * til . " " J ( text tee fhevx of it ; " " We do very ** ; " and " Depend upon ii , it wold fail of satisfying ft * malc ontent . "
Sow sH these famish no argument ; nay , not even ' 41 objection ; they amouat to L"e more than a perverse i " ^ adaaou . Mereover , I now feel myself in a situation j to ten you wilh all the hostility which dogged folly . ^ penwse conclusions can furnish , I feel that ay ; ***** a now sufficiently strong to ttand firmly with j f ^ k g * upon the broad base of popu / tt right , which j 6 **?? wajbefore , within the memory ot ' ¦»*¦; nor was \
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illn&atpte&oB ii& tfee ^ ssrtttBon of Parliament . My monifctaa « ajr » oir to » e the tone , of appeal , and assume tte torn « tinaaiag and judgment . I shall therefore § mkuOf t « Uyou mil that is required for the completion , perfeetioa , and stahUUy of my plan . . Those reqiiremaafei . do apt amount to icnoTatlon , experimect , or even Befarm ; they , one end all , whe-Iher social at political , amount ~ to no more than
restoration . They are a restoration to Ireland of her Parliament ; and a zestcratioB to tha whole people of . their electoral ri ^ tts , with entire and ample means for their foUeat ttgftjzfteai Sach may be considered the t « ro great prladples j while the whole of the detaU benefit ought may he gitatted from the following measures which , I rejoice to sty , still stand npon tbe journals of " the House , " aad to which is appended the name of Fougut O'Connor . '
My Lords and Gentlemen , when I discovered , late in 28 SS , that the . windings of the Repeal question wer * too m ^ wteaoaatar my comprehettslon , and when I ¦ opposed that many met * igwjraut than Bayaelf were , equally with me , liahl » to miaconoBption upon that pomt ; when I discovered that Repeal was bat latapdqd . to be a d » wn award b ^ UL
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? : 3 r Ba ! jyiaa ! BgJiPag « yaen | w jjmjbjj | iBHB ^ BHPHHCWiO ^ sVB 38 | a ^|^ pBfl | HWHH ^^ v ^^ Hn tamed my attention to the immediate correction of many abuses , Wow pray understand me . In fact , I was 80 ardent in the cause of Repeal , and being convinced that if one dozen men had worked for it outsi le , as I worked , and backed as ii was by fortytwo votes , and powerful eloquence and great courage inside , that it must have triumphed if those forty-two remained firm , which Ireland -would oblige them to do .
Thus for the first year I abandoned all minor coasiderations . and dung to that question , which ever haa been , and ever . shall be , the darling object of my life . However , finding that the whole thing was a piece of magic , I placed tbe figure on the wall in 1834 . showing its strength , its justice , and its prudence , sad at the same time exhibiting the great superiority of tbe arguments of its supporters over the factious opposition of its opponents .
As my next letter spun contain a plain and ample development of what Repeal would accomplish for lieland , and the hopelessness of expecting benefit « ren fr * in the Adoption of any agricultural plan , or indeed from any other plan , without giving to it the protection of tha master ' s eye and the guardianship of a freelyelected representation , I shall say no more upon that subject now ; but shall at oace proceed to lay before you the five measures which I proposed for immediate relief in 1834 and 1 S 35 .
No . 1 . To asove for leave to bring in a bill to compell Irish landlords to give leases for ever at a corn rent ; and in aH cases where lands are now hei < i upon lease or accepted proposal , and are considered too dear , to give to the tenants of such lands the right of appealing to a Jury , who shall establish the value in like manner as the value of private property is now ascertained , when required by tbe Crown , or legally authorised corporations or individuals , for national purposes . No . 2 . For leave to bring in a Bill to make & legal provision for the poor of Ireland . Xo . 3 . For leave to bring in a Bill to consolidate the several Stamp Acts now in force in Ireland .
Jv o . 4 . For leave to bring in a Bill for the better regulation of Quarter Sessions * Courts in Ireland , with a view of making thoBe conrts cheap courts of equity as well as conrts of law , whereby cheap justice might be brought home to the door of every poor man . No . 5 . To move a resolution of the House , that it is desirable , as well for the ends of justice as for the trsnqnility of Ireland , that all clergymen , being magistrates , should be deprived of the Coinmissioa of the Peace . Now , by these five measures , yoa will at once discover that I have been long looking after my project The law to regulate tenure I shall presently explain fully .
The Bill for a provision for the poor was of a very different nature from that which tas since been adopted ; by it I meant to make as good a provision for tbe unwilling idler as for tne wholly destitute ; and I meant to carry out my plan , as announced i& one of my speeches upon the presentation of a petition , by a tax upon absentees , middle men , and landlords ; and by agricultural aad labour premiums for the working farmer and labourer . My plan was persuasion ; yonra compulsion .
By the Stamp Act , ( a full draft of which I handed to Mr . Littleton , and received his a&sma&ce to bring it forward ) , I meant to deprive landlords of a right to take monies on account of rent , 'witliont giving stamped receipts , by a want of which tenants are cheated out of thousands annually . By the Quarter Sessions Bill , ( which I foolishly relinquished , relying upon Air . Littleton ' s honour that he would adopt my every suggestion , ) I hoped to establish a kind ot Court-roll , or Baronial Conrt , -where tenants might , in case of dijpnte , lodg : e monies tor their landlords and receive receipts upon notice given to tbe
landlord ; might cheaply register their leases , and the Seneschal of which should have certain powers in cases of dispute . I also hoped to confine all questions of equity between landlord and tenant to those cheap courts , instead of seeing the farce of a man of straw going to tfie Court of Chancery to defend the best equitable title against a golden calf . I also hoped to taie from-landlords the posrer of distraining for rent , and giving them the same mode of recovering as all other persons who deal in the world have ; making them liable to double costs in case of illegal or
vexations proceedings against their tenants . I also hoped to simplify the law of ejectment , by making it more inexpensive , and rendering tbe re-assumption more c . isyin cases of frand , failure , or non-payment of rent ; thereby fully proving that with juBt and equal laws for all , I would be as ready to defend the rich man ' s right as to defend tbe poor man's right . Indeed , I have seldom , or never , known a single instance of a rich man and & poor man going to law , wherein the poor man had not both law and justice on his side ; and tbe very fact of a poor man braving tbe danger is , " prima fade " evidence ot the justice of his case .
My Lords and Gentlemen , I now come to a consideration of the justice , propriety , policy , reasonableness and mutual convenience of my proposition as regards a tenure in perpetuity of land at a rent regulated by the graduating \ ot sliding , scale of prices of produce . Firstly , then as to a lease of land for a term of three lives , or thirty-one years , or fourteen yean , which i s the shortest term ; or for any term at a fixed and unchangeable rent , —it is rank nonsense ! What would yon think of a clothier , a hosier , or a wine merchant who should ssy to a purchaser : " Ton must give me so mucb for this article , because two years ago I gave so ranch for it myself In the wholesale market ! " and yet it would not be one-half as absurd as the practice
of requiring a fixed annual price for your wholesale raw commodity without any reference to the retail mannfactured market Besides the folly—the national lots is tooenormous , and " population presses too hardly" upon the means ALLOWED BT YOU for its subsistence to admit of the continuance of a vicious practice , which deprives the community of the full developement of all that skill , industry , capital , and even honourable speculation , which the husbandman would more freely and largely expend upon his own account , than he can be expected to expend to bis own disadvantage- You ride a hired horse harder and take less care of him than you do of your own hone ; bo with the . poor man who merely hires your ground at your will for a job .
Secondly , the very fact of your being compelled to make leases for ever of your land , would , for selfinterest , work out my principle of small farms ; inasmuch as you would then see the great advantage of a retail market Thirdly , the whimsical mode of ! endh > g land operates prejudicially not only against the farnisr but also against the labourer , whose services the fanner
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will not venture to hire , except at the very lowe * rate aad the lowest amount ; while if be bada lease for ever he would make a garden of Us every inch of ground . An Irishman Will work * 'from sun-rise tilT sunset , and . work cheerfully , too ; . and . bo , would an Englishman , or Scotchman , npoq his own ground , and would require no military force to put him to bed at the sound of the dread curfew . - He would sleep sound ; " and awake to the pleasing reflection , that " his chief happiness really consisted in the modest comfort * of his condition ; " his face 70 a would nerer see In a court of justice , or resisting military authority . Ah ! a bad bit that for my client , u echo auBWors , " No 1 " ami therefore you would navei see" my son" upon the bench , of pleading his eaoae , or commanding the said milftaay to fire npontdta . But , however , to * the case .
I have shown yoa that a . condi 6 onal sale of year land upon the terms of annual tender of payment is . the only means of cultivating it to the highest state to which it is capable of being brought ; and now I proceed to show job the egregious folly and injustice of requiring a stated rent through all time , while I show yoa at the same time the injustice of the presBal ja ^ fcam to yourselves- _ " _ ' .. ' ^ __ -. ¦ ¦ - ? M g ^ l ^ fc ^ jft *^^ to cloth ? , tallow to candles , leather to shoes , bxe&d to -wheat ; that is , it is tbe raw material out of which the article is manufactured ; and of cottree , aa
the value of produce and raw material in all other commodities reciprocally act and react , now for and now against , the speculators who buy and sell with the day;—( pray keep that in mind , who bay and sell with the day;)—tbe longer overholding than is necessary for a corresponding return between recent purchase of raw material and immediate sale of tbe manufactured article becomes matter of fair speculation for the manufacturer , and subsequently
for the tradesmen who retails it The one sells to convenience himself ; the other buys to convenience himself . It would not be jadicious for a manufacturer to lay by a fourteen years' stock , of raw material ; and much less would it be to lay by a thirty-one years' stock , without reference to , or control over , the price of the manufactured article ; and yet the system of leasing land upon fixed rents for a term of years is precisely tbe same : not a particle of dlscernable difference .
Let us now see wherein authorities and titles higher than yours , bear me out in my principle . Firstly , then , I will take the ruling power of tbe Church , and I will show you how the principle of annual render according to annual produce is therein acknowledged ; and I will also show bow yon , when you altered the old practice , you brought it still to bear upon the principle of reciprocity . Tithes , then , are annual render of a tenth of all thepro-< iuoe of the land ; and before the enactment of the Tithe Composition Bill , which ordained a seven years'lease of them , the parson was partaker with the tenant in many
casualties . If the tenant thought the valuation too high , or if the emps were destroyed , he could make the parson draw his every tenth sheaf , tenth griss cock from the meadow , and tbe prodnce of every tenth tod , of every ridge or ( trill from the potatoe field . To obviate this incouvenienca to the parson , and at the same time to make a beginning by way of experiment upon an appropriation of tithes to your own uses , you gave tbe farmer a seven years' lease ; and just think of tbo principle upon which you acted . You gave hfra for the seven years to come an income established by the average of prices for the seven years past ! Well ,
unjust as that was , it was , nevertheless , a full acknowledgment of my principle ; it takes prices of produce as the standard of yearly income ; but it vronld have been much more just and fair to have made the tenant pay money on account during six years of the current seven , and then to have balanced accounts by a whip upon the last year , than to have made the average of 1834 to 1840 , both inclusive , a standard for the regulation of payments for the subsequent years of 1841 to 1847 , inclusive . Indeed , taking the average price of each year is precisely the same , but too simple , as the average foT any , or for every year within the year . However I am glad to be able to establish my title upon
clerical principles , and therefore 1 adopt it , but I must neTertheltss explain to you the folly of taking a seven year ' s average , or any number of years as aa average , instead of an average price within each year . Observe , then , that tbe average price tach year constitutes in the end the average price of any number of years ; for instance , take seven years' average prices at the following amounts—14 s ., 17 s . 6 d ., 21 s ., 24 * . 6 d ., 28 s ., 31 s . 61 ! . 35 f . ; and you will find 24 s . 6 d . to be the average ; and jon will also find that the parson or person entitled to tbe seven years' different sums would have received precisely tbe same amount if be received the average price of each year within the year .
Thus far I have the principle acknowledged by church usage and commercial nsage ; and now I bring the practice of Government to bear , and in all their contracts , from the regulation of duty upon grain down to the supply of Btores and provisions of all sorts ,- we find the principle of " buying and selling with the day * strictly acted upon by annual tenders and declarations , and contracted for , fcr tbe year . Having said so much upon the subject of tenure and mode of annual assessment of value , I shall now show , and I think clearly , that a rent regulated by the price of grain , familiarly called " a corn rent , " is the only just mode by which the annual value of rent can be ascertained without a risk of chances , all the bad ones being on the side of the tenants , and all the good ones on the side of the landlords .
If a manufacturer goes to market te purchase raw material , be is regulated in fcis bargains by tbe market price of prod nee ; so with the butcher who bays live stock ; so with the farmer who buys dairy cows or other stock ; so with those also who even purchase in the wholesale and sell in the retail market ; they , one and all , " boy and sell with the day : " while the rety man whose bargain shonld be in some way defined , in order the better to lead him to a calculation of surplus after rent , has no means whatever of judging even while the crop is reaping , of what portion becomes his share , or - what portion becomes tbe landlord ' s share ; and while in his share there is mixed up labour , capital , risk , responsibility , and personal security , the landlord ' s is altogether freed from . / -any such harassing drawbacks .
Now , I ask , what can be mere absurd than a stamped agreement to pay for each and every year , of thirty-one years , the same amount of rent , without reference to produce ? It is rank nonsense . ' and , upon the other hand , J ask what can be more just , seeing that the produce is of tbe land , and its render being annual , than that the standard of rent should be ascertained by value of annual produce ? One silly gentleman once said to me , when talking over the subject , that " « majority of farmers would prefer the principle which 'Seft the widest field open for speculation , and that a com rent
would damp their energy , and in high yean would act against them ; " upontheotherhandl contended that the present system net only damped , but forbid all energy , beyond a mere existence point ; while the field of speculation wonld be incalculably increased by the substitution of a corn for a fixed-money render . 1 explained , that only with a corn rent could the benefit of leases in perpetuity be made equally advantageous to landlord and tenant , by giving to the landlord the only means which , apart from folly , he should enjoy of squaring his annual expenditure by bis annual receipts .
I further aver , that In Euch cases high rents wonld be more beneficial to the tenant than to the landlord , inasmuch as npon all surplus produce the tenant would have a five-fold increase , while the landlord would have but a single increase . Thus : suppose ten acres of the land of Blackacre , to be taken by A . at 20 s . per acre , on a corn rent when wheat was 20 s . per bag ; and suppose the price to rise to 30 s ., and the rent to be consequently increased to 30 s . ; in such case the landlord would have but an increase of 10 a . upon the acre , ¦ while A . -would have an increase of 10 s . on every bag , or £ 3 on every acre . It is true that the rule would only apply bo extewively to grain-producing land ;
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3 pft inasmuch as the price of grain regulates the price all other produce , it would effect all the crass land to the full amount of the difference of ten shillings ; Hut Is , the difference between twenty shillings and ; 4 Wrty Shillings ; while it would leave to the tenant the ^ eaefit of all surplusage of profit ab ove rent upon jgrain ; and what could be so great an inducement for . fee encouragement of the growth of grain , in which , we are told , we stand in so much need ?
My Lords and Gentlemen , custom reconciles . the mind to practice and principles the justice and propriety of -which few men will venture to defend ; and while the defence of those principles and practices Invariably subjecte their supporters to nnlversal scorn and reprobation , nevertheless are the principles and practices preserved and universally acted upon . For instance / the Duke of Newcastle has been censured ,
and most justly , for defending his " right to do as he pleased with bis uwn "; ¦ and no apologist appeared even from tbe ranks of the practitioners . Mr . Bruen said that the Irish were " savage , " and be too was universally censured ; but is there a country upon the face of the j | arth , or do we read In history of any country , where fe » nflbdple of the Duke of Newcastle and the belief of Mr . Bxueu is or was more extensively actedupon than both are at the present time in Ireland ?
Was ever the system of serfdom and vassalage more perfect ?—softened down as it may apparently be by the assertion , that the vassal and serf , is a free agent and enters upon the contract with his eyes open j he does so : nor is he blind to his position , but he has no alternative . The moment he becomes your tenant , he i s to all intents and purposes , your vassal , slave , and bondsman , feir the whole term of his tenancy . Be cannot keep a gun to shoot a crow without your license ; he is bound down by conditions of every sort you think proper to impose for the management of a farm , for the rent of which he is answerable ; you are
part proprietor of his capital , of his skill , his industry , and bis labour , while you are released , as I have shown , from all casualities and liabilities . You have his capital , aa a sinking fund to fall back upon in case of bad years ; while at the expiration of his term , should he get a renewtil , it is in general on condition that he give something more for his own improvements than another will bid over his head 1 and , above and before all , he is compelled , at the hazard of losing his farm , and . perhaps his life , to vote
for your nominee , who is most likely an enemy to bis interest , his religion , andhispoliticalfeeliDgsjandyetthis is called tbe justice of " doing what you like with your own ; " tbis is tbe leaven of tha system of which all have a right to complain ; tbis is the cause of the demand for foreign grain ; this is the original cause of " over production for the fancy market , " of " surplus population , " aud a scanty snpply of food . You first limit the amount of the land's production , and by so doing , you Increase the amount of " surplus population , " while you diminish the means of traffic /
Now are these things not quite plain and obvious 1 Firstly , you withhold the land from its most beneficial application ; secondly , even under your own system of large allotments you annex such conditions to a bad tenure as prevents the tenant from improving or producing the most ; thirdly , you encourage horse power to the ousting of a much better power , and yoa thereby create a " surplus labour-population , " according to the means yon allow them even for existence ; and , fourthly , you prevent the farmers , by your general practice , from becoming a dealer in the manufacturing market : the result of all which absurdities is , that
those paupers displaced by you have become a reserve in tbe English labour-market , upon which the matters cau fall back , as ft means of compelling all to woA at a mere existence point ; while they also constitute a eorjto of willing assailants , ready to be led on ? ( and " small blame to them !") in any assault against their aggressors , who are , undoubtedly , the Irish landlords . So far from the Irish people having any just cause of complaint against the English people , I unhesitatingly assert that the tyranny of Irish landlords has been the ruin of the English operative , and indeed of all English labourers . You have sent a swarm of bees
from your own hive , ( whose labour , and more , was required at home , ) in order that you and your families may live in luxury upon the idle paupers' fund of which you hold the masterdom , by limiting tenure to the standard of class legislation , and which you can only accomplish by firstly starving the Irish people , and then asking who would enfranchise such paupers ? by goading them into < crime , and then asking who would enfranchise such " savages" 1 by withholding all the means of improvement , and then asking who would enfranchise such ignorant creatures ? by making your class-religion an object of just hatred , scorn , and
resentment , and then asking who would enfranchise tbe enemies of our " holy religion" ? by using the laws for their ruin , and then asking who would enfranchise men who had no respect for our " laws" ? while all are consequences of your oppression and misrule , and to Which a speedy termination , commensurate with tba offences , has been long protracted by a patient and enduring people . I am , my Lords and Gentlemen , Your obedient , And very humble servant , FEABGtiS O'Connor , July 27 th , 1841 .
P . S . Allow me to correct a few errors of the press which appeared in my last letter : —For " Gracchii read Gracchi . For " Boetians" read Bceotiatu . I also find that my table of calculations was made to appear , In the first edition of the paper , completely topsy turvg , by the blundering of a compositor , who was entrusted to make a trifling correction in the totals , but who , instead of following the marts in the proofslip given to him , transposed the lines , and put the totals just where they vretenot wanted to be . Below I givengaia the table as it should have appeared at first—and as it did appear in the last edition of the paper .
£ . a . d . ftine bags of wheat , at twenty Btone the bag , ' , b > ^ 1 5 » . the bag . 11 5 0 Prodnce of a cow and half , valued at £ 8 per eotr .., 12 0 0 Five barrels of oats , at fourteen stone the barrel , at 1 Ob . the barrel , or less than 9 d . per stone .. 2 10 0 fronton four bacon pigs , fed from May to March , and bought at cine months old £ 2 10 s . each .............................. 10 0 6 Profit on four sheep , fatted after shearing , 10 s . ahead ...-. .. " 2 0 0 Eggs , poultry , linen , ( or spun flax ) . 5 0 0
Those amounts , added , make ... £ 42 15 0 From which deduct — Bent and rates ,.,.., 11 0 0 Laid by for girls' portion and casualities , per annum ^ 7 15 0 Total ...... £ 18 15 0 which deducted from the £ 42 15 s ., leaves £ 24 to be annually expended In the manufacturing and commercial market
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TO LORD JOCELYN . My Lord , —a pereon writes to me from Manchester , to say that another person told him , that be was informed by some one , that some one else bad heard one Bakewell ( who from his name I take to be one of the fraternity of " plaguy large loafers , " and who is a correspondent of the Sun newspaper ) say that I had received £ 500 from your Lordship ior services Tendered to you at your recent contest for Leeds .
Now , my lord , as what so many persons say may be tTue , and whether true or false , may be believed by some one , and as I would not wish any one man , woman , or even child in the world to believe that I could be guilty , at any price , of offering so great an insult to my country , my party , and luy understanding , as to assist you in an endeavour to represent Leeds , or any other place , I beg of you as follows : —that is ,
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if you have paid to any person any sum of money on ray behalf , yea will have the goodness to claim its restoration as money received under false pretences , and I will prosecute the offender as far as the law will allow . My Lord , while my band is in , I may be permitted to say that this is a very curious coincidence , inasmuch as I took no part in any single election throughout the recent straggle , save and except in your Lordship ' s ; aad as perhaps you may have paid some one something for that , let me tell you what parti did take . Having some . interest , and many friends in Leeds , I
was naturally waited upon , consulted , and questioned as to what I thought the most prudent course to be pursued by the Chartist voters at the Leeds election . My answer to one and all was , " For my part I think it signifies nothing ; but , as an Irishman , I beg of you , for tbe honour of God and my Country , not to vote for Lord Jocelyn , as whatever his politics may be , he represents , in his name and person , the very bloodiest faction that ever disgraced humanity—the Irish Orangemen . " I farther said that if you were returned , I should sever again have a . hope of convincing my poor countrymen , that even the non-electors were not Orangemen . ' ""
Now , my Lard , I am happy to inform yoa that my influence , and canvass , and imploring , and beseeching , had the effect of relieving you of all the trouble and anxiety consequent upon the acquirement of the trust you sought My Lord , another palpable falsehood which some person informs me is abroad , is , that my publisher , who is an elector , voted for you . This I can grapple with , and tbe aaxkius , can arrive at the truth -or falsehood of it ; but , meantime , I beg te assure your Lordship that he , with many others of my friends , rejected all solicitations on your Lordship ' s behalf , and did not vote VOR you ; nor would five hundred times the £ 500 , I believe , in my conscience , have tempted him to do so . I learn from him that he did not vote at all .
My Lord , I am expected to be very pure indeed , and I will endeavour to be so ; and while I am npon the subject , I may as well request of your Lordship to perform a friendly office for me ; for being , as I presume you are , a member of the Cariton Club , you can do it without much inconvenience . The aforesaid Bakewell further assures some persons that I received the sum of £ 1 , 500 from the Cirlton Club for my services . Now , ray Lord , the smalJneas of the amount' for such services as I am supposed to have
rendered , would , to a sensible ceinmunity , at once be a direct refutation of the slander . In fact , what would £ 1 , 500 be to me when I could have had twice as many thousands . However , you will oblige me by assuring the Club that I never heard of the affair till it came to me in the indirect way in which I have stated ; and if it has been paid , it also should be refunded , as it was acquired under false pretences . Curious that a Club whose arrangements generally appear 90 complete , should pay large sums of money away in such a slovenly manner .
I assure you , my Lord , that not one member of tbe Cariton Club , nor of any other club in the world , would , for ten times the amount , presume even to ask me if I would accept of a gift for the violation of my principles . But m a disinterested politican is a " ram avis , " and as busy slander cannot find one foul spot in my character , fiction , always ready to aid in the good work of destroying the fame of all persona useful to the poor man , has tendered its services ; and -what is most carious in the Whole affair Is , if the said Bakewell was put to bis oath to-morr < aw , or indeed if every man in the kingdom was pat to his oath , not one would swear that he believed i war capable of selling myself for an ) sum of money , ' or ftw iny principle " aKott ef TTnivereal Suffrage .
My Lord , I think it right to inform you that I received a very pressing letter on your behalf from Mr . Harvey , assuring me that you were a very good man , an * very fond of the poor , which letter I took as a great insult , and never answered . Perhaps , my Lord , he has been kind enough to receive th © reward of merit on my account ; if so , you should make him refund . His letter was evidently written either at y « ur Lordship ' s dictation , or at the suggestion of your committee . My Lord , once for all , I beg leave to assure you that there is not money enough in the Bank of England to purchase a sentence , line , or word from me , which would aid the cause of either Whig or Tory , or injure the cause of my own party .
My Lord , you will , of course , take tbis letter in a purely political sense ; as I have no reason whatever to doubt any one of tbe many handsome compliments which Mr . Harvey paid to your private character . I am , my Lord , Your Lordship ' s obedient Servant , Feabgus O'Connor . York Castle , July 26 th , 1841 .
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WEDKESBTJBY . —A public meeting was held at the High Bulling , on Tuesday evening last , to hear Mr . Caudy give an address upon the principles and objects of the People ' s Charter . As it was something new to the inhabitants of this place , he had a good attendance of hearers . He entered fully into his subject , and convinced his audience that nothing but the attainment of the Charter could heal the wounds that taxation and an oppressive Government had made in society . He was attentively heard , and the working classes were highly satisfied with the lecture . Three cheers were given for the People ' s Charter and the Northern Star , and three times three for Feargus O'Connor , the unflinching advocate of the working men . A good working Committee was formed , and a number of working men came forward to form an Association .
WOtiVEBHAlttPTON . —A meeting was held at Mr . Moggs , Temperance Hotel , Snow Hill , on Wednesaaj , which was well attended . Mr . Candy delivered an excellent address upon the science of Government . The Committee at Wolverhampton wish to remark that Mr . Candy ' s engagement will terminate in a fortnight from this time ; and if any of our friends would wish to have the services of Mr . Candy , they recommend him » s a worthy , able , talented , and unflinching Chartist lecturer , deserving the support of every lover of Chartism . Letters to be directed to Mr , J . Wilcox . news-scent , Worcester-street .
Wolverhampton . They would wish to engage Mr . D . Taylor for one month , in the place of our friend Candy , if he ip not pre-engaged . BII 18 TON . —The cause of Chartism is making great progress her * . Mr . Candy ' s kotures on the People ' s Charter , the principles of Government , and other political subjects , has been the means of attracting great numbers of hearers each evening . At the conclusion of each lecture we have an accession oi fresh members . A spirit of nnion and friendship is manifested both in our public meetings and Committee , and we «* e now getting well and thoroughly organised .
OAttLABTON . —Mr . H . Candy gave a lecture on the old Poor LawB as they were , and the New Poor Laws as they am , at the Bull Stakes , on Monday evening last . There was a large assemblage of persons present . NUSSELBTJRGH . —A public meeting was held in tbe Freemasons' Hall . Musselburgh , on Tuesday evening : week , the 20 th instant , for tbe purpose of forming a Charter Association in this town , Mr . D . M'Pherson in the chair . The meeting was very ably addressed by Mr . William Taylor , of Dilkeith , for two hours ; lifter which twenty men came forward and joined the Association , and there is every prospect of the cause getting a great number of supporters in the town of MuRselbuwrb .
DALKEITH . —The cause u progressing here with great spirit The Association is sending deputations to tbe neighbouring . towns and villages , to address meetings and form Associations . God si . eed them ! It is talked of holding a delegate meeting in Edinburgh , for the purpose of forming a better organisation for the county , and to try to get a lecturer far the same . WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE . — The Chartists of tbis place passed resolutions at their last meeting denouncing Collins and O'Neil , and expressing confidence in White of Birmingham .
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i /^ t ^ M , ^ Mt ^ -y . IVBICESTE * . —Although less'excitement is manifest , now tno ? ieoi . ; jn fever has subsided , yat a strong under-curreni of thought and feeling on , Chartism is very discoverable m Leicester . Mr . Cooper ' spoliticalsermons in the Market-place ,. on Sunday evenings , continue to attract great numbers , and to create busy discussions among all classes . — The general meeting , last Monday night , was an interesting one , ah 4 was addressed by Messrs . Smart , Markham , Bowman , &o . with their usual good sense . The people display deeper interest thanever on all Chartist subject . It was learnt that Jiich .-ardson was in difficulty , and a plan was instantly sfttnn foot ta relieve him : seventy have already
pledged themselves to contribute one penny each tor six weeks , towards a fund for him , and more will 00 added . The Executive , the graud maiu-spring in our political engine , has not been forgotten ; twentyfive shillings were sent , the other day , to Mr . Campbell , the secretary , as a tribute from our funds r to which was added fifteen shillings , collected by a few real friends to Chartism , at Melton Mowbray . The factof uueh a sum being collected in that aristocratic centre of fox-hunters for such a noble purpose , is not a little remarkable . ; the money was brought over and paid into the hands of Mr . Cooper , the Leicester secretary , not a little to his pleasurable surprise . — The Leicester Chartists wish it to be generally known that Messrs . Seal and Burden have no longer
any connection with the body . —Communications for the Leicester friends ought to be addressed either to Mr . Cooper , secretary ; 11 , Church-gate ; Mr . Bowman , treasurer Pasture-lane . ; or Mr , Markham , committee-man , Belgrave gate . —Mr . Smart commences a series of lectures on the Charter , next Monday evening ; . and Mr . Cooper preaches , as usual , in tha Market-place , on Sunday evening . YORK . ——The O'Connor ' s Release DomonEcration Committee held their usual weekly meeting , on Sunday , the 25 th instant , when a variety of business , relative to the forthcoming demonstration , was brought forward . The committee highly approve of the suggestion ef Mr .
G . J . Harney , for holding a delegate meeting , to arrange the various demonstrations that will take place on the release of our glorious chief , and have determined on sending a delegate freua York . on that occasion . Tbe secretary was instructed to -oominunicate with the variouslocalities , request ing the co-operation of their Chartist brethren , throughout tb « United Kingdom , aa the men of York are determined to . do their utmost in order to render their deaipnatration effective , and to show to the inmates of this den of corruption their determined hatred of oppression , ,-iud iheir love for the glorious principles for which that truly " Noble of Nature , " F . O'Connor , Esq ., has so long and eo unjustly suffered . V
LAMBETH . —A meeting will beheld on Tuesday eveniDg next , at 54 . Webb ' s Row , Waterloo Rowi ^ for the purpose of nominating a sub-Treasurer , wheri ^ all members are requested to attend , as there is business of importance to transact LEIGH . —Chartism in this this town is rapidly progressing , so much so that the authorities have deemed it prudent to arrest Richard Brooks , on the 21 st instant , because he is a zealous advocate of theelective franchise . He was placed under arrest , no doubt , for the purpose of retarding the progress of public opinion , on a charge of being a party to a seditious placard , issued prior to the 12 th of August , 1839 , he having absented himself for one year and nine months , but immediately after the division in the House of Commons on tbe release of
all political prisoners , he ventured to return , and after being at large in his own town for Uaee months , they at last seized him and brought him before the magistrates for examination on the 22 nd inst , who sat for the first time in the New Town Hall , and on being arraigned at the bar , Brooks requested ot their Worships that tha charge or indictment should be read , and there being no indictment , their Worships thought it judicious to adjonrn for an hour , during which time aa indictment was made out After this announcement the Court was cleared by the police-officers who were in attendance . When the Court resumed , after their deliberations , the Magistrates had determined to commit him to take his trial at the next General Quartet Sessions . Brooks then enquired if he had the privilege
of choosing whether he went to the Assizes or the Sessions , which was answered in the negative . He also bogged of the Bench as he was a poor working ma » to be as lenient as possible in the amount of bail , and their worships decided that he should be bound , himself in £ 30 and two sureties of £ 25 each . Bail having been obtained and sworn that that they were worth £ 25 when all their just debts were paid ; their worships demanded twenty four hoars notice before such bail should be accepted . Several persons waited on tbe Superintendent of Police to enquire if the bail was accepted , when it turned out they were rejected ; two others having been obtained were accepted , when Brooks enquired what he had to pay , Mr . James Smith , the Magistrates' Clerk , stated it to be £ l 10 s . 6 d ., and on being paid , Brooks was once more set at liberty .
DUBLIN The Universal Suffrage Association of this place , held their usual weekly meeting on Sunday the 15 th inst , Mr . P ; M . Brophy , in the chair , who opened the business of tbe meeting by declaring ita objeets , - which he said were the principles of the People ' s Cliartur and the Repeal of the Legislative Union . He repudiated the idea , of tbe-OhartistB being : Soriw or torch and dagger men and showed that even Mr . O'Ci * nnell had softened down the charges he made against them in April last , when ke said it was " a transportable offence in Ireland to be a Chartist . " Now , he only wanted to know wliat c « lour they are , and the worst he can do is to call for three groans for them . The Chairman concluded by-introducing Mr . Handcock , of Manchester , who in very eloquent terms and at
cuusider » ble length pictured the Btate of public feeling in England towards Ireland . He said ne knew of no Chartist in that country that was not a repealer to its full extent , and that if Irishmen were not to be partakers of the fruit of the Charter , Englishmen wc , uld not accept of it . AH the aristocracy dreaded was a union of sentiment between the three countries , and he said that that the present meeting was a foreboding of such a onion . Ho gave some very striking proofs of the evil conduct of Irishman ( whom he believed to be of the lowest grade ) at Manchester and other towns Who , he said , were acting on the advice of-Mr . O'Cannell , and who to their eternal shame , acted a most brutal part at the Stepheneon ' s-square meeting , and one of whom he said , told the veteran patriot Wheeler ,
" to be prepared to meet his God . " Mr . Handcock concluded amidst the plaudits of the meeting . A gentleman from Bradford , here stood up and commented in very severe terms on the conduct of the Chartists of tint town , whom he said had acted very unwise in taking part with the Tories , and said that they , the Chartists , were acting on the advice of Feargus O . Connor , who some time ago , wished that the House of Commons had in it 658 Tories . He gave it as as his opinion that the conduct of Martin , at Bradford , was anything but calculated to further tha csose , when Patrick O'Higgins stood up and said that the gentleman who spoke last , had , he thought , acted severe in
passing such strictures on Messrs . O'Connor and Martin . He said the meeting should bear in mind that it was not the men but their policy that was condemned . Now , he ( Mr . O'Higgln ' s ) had very great respect for Mr . O'Cennor , although he differed from him in many points . He said he yielded to no man in his admiration ofMr . O ConnelPs hmiscendanteloqueL . ee , although persons present thought otherwise , yet he denied altogether his title to the character of a statesman . Ho said there never was a man in the world who possessed so much power , and who at the same time nude so bad use of it When the " base , bloody , and brutal factions" were persecuting him , the people in England and Scotland turned out in tens of thousands to hail hia
entrance into Birmingham , Manchester , Newcastle , Edinburgh , and Glasgow , and forced the middle-classes te do henour to the man whom they hated and whose power they dreaded . Mr . O'Connell bad at that time aIreland with him as . well as England and Scotland . And with all this power what did he get for the people r What did he ever prepare in Parliament for the benefit of his country or of any other country ? It eould scarcely be expected that he would be able to carry any measure in a Whig Parliament for tbe good of Ireland , but he should have had the moral courage to have proposed something as others , even if he were left without a seconder ; but , instead of attempting to carry , or even bring forward in his place in Parliament any measure calculated to benefit or alleviate the Bufferings of those who would have sacrificed their lives for Win ,
and who suffered the -most cruel and heart-rending persecution , on account of their adherence to him , he turned round npon his deluded followers , and got the Coercion Act for them . And when Mr . W . S . O'Brien , the M . P . for the County Limerick , moved the continuance of that Act shonld be limited to two yews , Mr . oConnell , and erery member of his family , who were then in Parliament supported tne Whig motion for the duration of that Act for five years ; and Mr . O'Connell justified his conduct on the miserable plea of the necessity of the Act , in order to put down agrarian disturbance . And again , ( said Mr . O'Higgins , ) when Mr . & Crawford moved the Repeal of , th « Coercion Act , let it be remembered , to the eternal shame of Mr . O ; counell . and bis family , that the vot e * of every one of them are recorded against the repeal of that Act , and their votes are to be found iat an
authentic document , called " The Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons . " Again , when that parent of patriots , Mr . Crawford , brought forward ^ bis motion for the total abolition of tithes , Mr . O'Ck > n » ell voted with Mr . Peel , Sergeant Jackson , Mr . Lefroy . and all the Tories in the House at the time against th « motion , and afterwards had the face to tell his dupe * that Mr . Crawford ' s motion was calculated to < nut the " Liberal" Government , and bring in the Tories . He ( Mr . O'Higgins ) would say nothing at present about the barefaced and open sale of the County of DubU * to non-Repealers—tbe County of Meatb to nan > Repea ) en —the County Kerry to non-Repealers—so * about the
recommendation to the favours of the citizens of Dpblin , ttiose who congratulated the Marquis of Anglesey for arresting Mr . O'Connell and others . He should reserve anything he had to say upon these subject * for a future occasion . He concluded by reading aAMm «»«^ -w « <* from Mr . A . M'Kenzie , of Bristol , whicl anim «( HB » * " on the conduct of Mr . O'Connell in very forattsHT A W * terms . A person present evinced some disapartatfDtfr * . • - ' sav ' * > \ at it . The Chairman . interfered , and , tbiMMHMKJ " \_\ ^ % O ( \ being again composed , it was further " ad ^ ESjlK ^ r ^^^ txV Messrs . Lee and Wood . Thanks being cliMSfefig * ^ y- >^ M-iI' ^ Y oainoan , tbe meeting separated in very t /»< immSS ^ m ^^\^ r
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VQL'PL NO . 194 SATURDAY , JfJLY 31 , 184 L PWC ^^^ pJr ^^ T '
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AND LEEDS € Ei | RAL ADYEBTISER .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), July 31, 1841, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct717/page/1/
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