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THE NORTHERN STAB, SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 1842.
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3To MeaXiev& anP Corr^portitcnt^
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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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%Qcb& Antt (Frtneral Zntelli%E\\Ce
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BSANCH 235 TSZ& . —Oa Wednesday evenir-g about sine o'doek , a child was killed under ihe following circumstances : —A yonng lad wa 3 coming up Bntkr-street with a cart load of coals , upon ¦ which heiid * younger brother riding , a child of foor or iive years of age . The child fell asleep , and unfortunately fell off the cart ; and before the horse eoaJd be stopped , the wheel of the cart passed over hjsiead , and killed him upon the spot . Fras . —On Wednesday morning , the large factory at Pin Mill Brow , the property of Mr , Thompson , was dieeoTOred to be on fire ; and notwithstanding the exertions of the fire brigade and the police , the building was burned to the ground . It is supposed that this misfortune will throw nearly 400 persons oat of employment .
BRADFORD . —Hamburgh y . the Starting Operative op Keabfobd . —Dur ing" the last fortnight , nearly £ 2 , 000 has been sent to Hamburgh from Bradford , to relieve those who have been Blade de titnte by the late lamentable fire . There are hundreds in the Boroush of Bradford , who are a 3 destitute of food and cloihing as any of those whose all bare been thus destroyed , yet net a single pound has b&en subscribed -to relieve the wants of those who have , by their industry , been the instruments of creating so much wealth for the rich and the great , to riot in luxury and extravagance .
Infamous CoNDrci of a Whi g Millccrat . —On Weonesday week , a case was brought before the magistrates , at the Court House , in Bradford , which shows the demoralizing , filthy , and disgusting practices of certain "liberal" miliocrats . U . 'he case was that of an assault which was alleged to have been committed by William apd Jabrz Atkinson upon their sister Margaret . Mr , Charles Iroes , solicitor , appeared to conduct the case of the complainant , who stated that the defendants had ¦ icone to Mr . Isaac Shackleton ' s mill , in Thornton Eoad , and seized their sister by the arms , and drayged her ont of the room . Sarah Normington ,
who also works for Shackleton , was called to corroborate the statement . Upon the two brothers being called npon for their defence , William , the elder , delivered an address to the bench which was listened to with the deepest attention by the whole court , the purport of which is as follows : — " I need not inform yonx Worships that the complainant is my sister . She was left an orphan at the age of thirteen years ; she was the youngest in the family , and at the death of our parents I took her under my care and protection , and no * being able to maintain her myself , I sent her to the factory , where Isaac Shackleton was then an everlooter . He had two
daughters , one of whom became the intimate companion of my sister , and used frequently to visit iier at my house . After a while my sister , through much persuasion , was induced to ask to leave my house and go to live with Shackleton ; to this I felt strongly opposed , hut being assured by Shackleton that he wculd behave well to her and treat her as one of the family , I reluctantly consented , and consequently she went . In course of time Shackleton ' s eondact towards my sister was such as to cause jealousy to arise in the breast of his wife , and my aster left hi ? house and tcoa lodgings , but still continued to work under him , and in a short time she was furnished with mean 3 to take a house and furnish it . She acknowledged to me xhat Sbackleson
had given her tbe money . The house she took" -was in Goodmansend , and to this house Shackleton was frequently seen to go at a time when he ought to have been in bed at home . When my sister was questioned by any of the neighbours a ? to who he was , she always said he was her brother . "Tbe ? e visits were kept until last week , when aptrson happened to be in that neighbourhood , who knew hiin to be her master ( Sbackleton being now in business for himself as a spinner ) . After he had locked himself inside , several women went to inform Shackleton ' s wife , who came and in the presence of a crowd of people , forced open the door with a poker , and he was obliged to come away amidst jhe toolings and groans of the crowd , one of whom in
aiming a blow at his head , knocked off his hat , and he was obliged to get off as best he ccnld wirbou it . Information of these proceedings having bepn communicated to me and my brother , by Mr . Slack minister of the Association chapel ,-we went to the spot in order to be satisfied of the truth of the report , and after hearing the statements of many eye-witnesses , we returned home overwhelmed with grief , and immediately went to Shackielon's mill , irb » 3 mj sister wa 3 BtiQ working , and asked her quietly to c « ne to my house , and I would again take her under my protection . We told her of the importance of a good character , and showed her the dangerous situation in which she was placed , promining to overlook all that had passed if she would
leave Sh 3 ekleion s employ . Although these , entreaties rrrre madevrith tears , yet they produced" no effect . ; S ' ae refused to leaver and consequently 1 « sd ^ ny brother agreed to take her out of the mill by fdree . We took her to my house ;; bus she has gone sgain to Shackltton , aod I am told that he h ^> given " bet money to take onV the warrant by which ¦ we &rr brought here , « nd "to engage an attorney . 2 ? ow , your worships , my sister is . only eighteen years old , and before she went to Shackleton she was as modsFtas any gnl in Bradford , and vras a professorof religion . She always had good advice and a good example : but now she is a wicked , impudent young
woman , and does not blush to use ianguage unfit for me to repeat here . I do not blame her so much as I do Shackleton , who is a married man between forty and fifty yean of age , and I am told that his conduct towards her has been suspicions for tee last twelve months . " Ths bench , afier hearing this address , concurred in the opinion that tbeyoung men had only done Jtheir duty to their sister , and ahe was admonished to go home with her brothers , and endeavour to redeem her now lost character . Instead of taking this advice , she persisted in her attachment to Shackleton in open court , stating that he had been her best friend .
The Lesds IaPBOVEME . fr Cosranssio . fESS , asd THEIB tXLA"VF 5 UL EXPENDITURE OF THE PEOPLE ' S Mossy . —It will be in the recollection of our readers , that a Yestry meeting of sneh of the inhabitants of Leeds as are made chargeable wi . h- or towards the rates or assessments authorised to be raised by the Leeds Improvement Act , was convened inthemomh of March lasi . for the purpose of auditing and passinsiheaeooantsof the Improvement Commissioners . When the accounts were laid before . the Yestry , one hem of £ 64 9 s . lid ., was objected to , on the ground that it was an illegal appropriation of the ratss , it having besn spent , cot in cleansing , lighting , or improving the streets and town of Leed-, but in the personal jaunts of some of the
Commissioners to London and Darby I Eventually the huoi wa 3 disallowed by the V ^ sstry , and the present Board of ConcisEioners instructed to take the needful steps to recover back from the . parties vrhohadso grossly betrayed their trua * , the money they had unlawfully expended : and the- usei ' mji adjourned to that day two menths , to receive' a report from the Commissioners , as to -what ' they had done in the matter . At the appointed time , ihe Yestry again assembled ; and . as the Laiv Cic-rk to the Commissioners reported trsa ? no steps had been taken to carry into effect the instructions ot the Vestry , auoiher resolution , again eailiog-tha attention of the Commisiio 5 € rs to ihe matter wai passed ; and the Yestry again adjourned to Monday
evening next , June 13 ; h , to be ihea holden in the Court House , at seven o ' clock in the eveniag . The course pursued by the Commissioners towards the Yestry in this matter , has been insulting and disgraceful in tie extreme . When the subject was reguiarly brought before them , at their next meeting , after the . disallowing of the illegal payment , the consideration , of the question was defsrr&d " till the next general meeiing . " When the nest general meeting came round , it was again deferred ; and so on , continually : the object of some of the Commissioners apparently being to prevent a vote on die subjeet from being taken . At the last general meeting of the Comniissioners , bolden on Saturday last , the matter wou'd have been
allowed to pass over entirely without nouce , had not one of the body dragged it upon the carpet . At that time there was just a quorum of Commissioners present . While a resolution was being penned to submit to the meeting , one of the five present ( by the-way , on © of the old Board tcho spent the money ; and indeed one who " figured" at London at the ratepayers' expenoe !) was in the act of leaviDg the room , when his attention wasdirected to the fa-cttlm ifhedidsOjbusinesswouldbeacanend j Sndth'atthongh such a ruse might get rid of a difficult and distasteful question , it was but a scrubby , way . oi dealing with those ?? ho had placed them in office to guard iheir interests and execute their commands . After openly avowing that his object was to thwart
the Yestry—whom he described as being unwortny of the least notice—( though they elected Mm to a post which enabled him to put hi 3 fingers in the public puree , and go to London not at his own cost !) he left the room , and thus , for a time sti / led the questions Upon this , a special meeting of the Commissioners was convened for Thursday Ia 3 fc , at three o ' clock . It is usual at nearly all the meetings of the Commissioners for the chair not to be taken till some half honr after the time fixed , to give an opportunity for those Lksly to come to assemble before the commencement of business . ¦ In this instance the party who expended the
noney mustered in pretty good number , elected a jhairaati , moved , seconded , and carried are solution , postponing the consideration of the resolutions of the Yestry to that day six momhs . within-a very few minutes of three o'clock 1 When the rest of the Commifieionars were wending their way to the meeting , to nphold the rights of the rate-payers , thev met the $ &an xeturniflg tft their homes , and had the gratification to hear tltti 4 * 1 was over 1 Asa > fncs HATE THOSE WHO SPBKI THE HONSY played with the Yestfj ! The . Vestry meeting is to be holden again © n Monday efeninf oexf » * *^* Court Hi cse , at B&fea Velockin the enriadng ; perhaps it will tell ttoaewfcohaTe fte-jmblie xcotsy in tb-i ? pockets
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what it thinks cf them , and of their attempts to foil the rate-pajers in getting it back again . The matter cannot be allowed to rest where it is . * ' It is bad getting butter out of a dog ' a throat ; " and It is equally bad to make a publis-fund leech disgorge ; but the attempt must be tried . Let the rate-payera see to it .
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Suicide op Lord Coi * gleton . —Inquest on the body . —On Wednesday morning , between nine and ten o ' clock , Lord Congleton committed a zm > 3 t determined act of suicide by hanging himself with a pocket handkerchief , at his residence in Cadoganplace , Chelsea . —On Thursday afternoon an inquest was held on the body before Mr . Wakley and a respectable jury , when a verdict of " temporary insanity ' s was returned . Various rumours are assigned for the rash act .
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CHEDDINGTON . —Bucks . —Mr . E . Stallwood from London , having accepted the invitation of some of the friendB here , attended and lectured to a numerous audience on the village green , on Tuesday , at seven o ' clock . Notwithstanding the threats of the farmers of " sacking" any one that should attend , a nnmber of well dressed females graced the meeting with their presence . At a quarter-past seven , Mr . Stall wood commenced his address on the principles of the Charter , alternately producing applause and bursts of laughter , and continued in a fervent and impassioned strain of eloquence , highly
gratifying to the astonished villagers , who for the first time listened to a Chartist lecturer . Many of the fiiir sex had the straw plait in their hands ( the staple trade of this part of Bucks . ) Mr . S . 's address lasted upwards of an hour and a half . At the conclusion , a vote approbatory of ths principles was unanimously passed , and Mr . S . was pressingly solicited to pay them another visit , with which request he complied . Onr principles are now fairly introduoed into Buckinghamshire , and with exertion and perseverance , the voice of Chartism will resound from end to end of our Torv-ridden connty .
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THE EDITOR OF THE "NORTHERN STAR TO HIS READERS . My Fbiexds , —I step , for once , out of the ordinary course of things—from behind the curtain of Editorial seclusion—to speak familiarly and freely to you , in my own proper person , upon subjects of vast import to your own interestS i and those of our common country . I seek not to " dictate" nor to " denounoe , " but , as one of yourselves , I claim the right of speech on what may affect our common interests ; as one whose
peculiar position and circumstances have given him the bentfitof more experience and better opportunities for observation of the many subterfuges , the deep cunning , and the reckless wickedness of faction than most of you , I may advise upon the course of action which , in my judgment , given circumstances cause to be right and necessary , or wrong and inexpedient ; and I ask not for my opinions and advice thns tendered any greater amount of deference or respectful consideration than is due to them on their own merits . I seek not " to earn a reputation , " but to
b 9 useful . I have spent in active exertions for our common good , according to the best knowledge I possess , nearly a full half of the whole term of my natural existence . I have been a public man well known to many of you for many years before the rising of the Star ; I have siuce that time held the most serious and important station of any in our whole movement ; you have to some extent evinced your sense and jndgment of the manner in which I have there acquitted myself bymakingthe Northern Star , ender my government , what a national organ
of democracy should be , —a terror to enemies of right , whather avowed or concealed , and a rallying point of union for yourselves . For so much of your favourable estimation as I have thus received I feel grateful ; regarding it not as a boon of grace and favour , but as the due appreciation of exertions which were seen to have been honest and consistent , however feeble or impotent they may have been . I ask only from yon that my advice and counsel may have dispassionate and calm attention ; that yon will read and weigh it carefully ; remembering that it comes from one whom vou know to ha . ve
served you faithfully and fearlessly , and whom the bitterest tongue of caJumny has never yet charged with political delinquency . The matter to which I think it necessary to call your serious attention , in the first instance , is the condition of the conntry and the position of the Chart ' iEt cause . The condition of the country is , at this present time such as it never was before ; 3 t all events , in my time . The fearful fruits of the fell Upas Tree , Class Legislation , are being gathered in an awful harvest .
Ruin ranges over the entire surface of the land ; famine fellows in its foot-steps ; and death , the consequence of destitution , clears out many a cottage . Under such circumstance it is net surprising that the wasting life should lose its patience , and that hungry bellies should incite angry speeches and threatenings of vengeance . I can readily conceive the mockery of preaching patience and forbearance to a starving man . I can readily conceive the loathing of contempt , if not of rage , with which the smirking , smooth , wait-a-while doctrines of
the . man whose " cake is buttered" must fall upon the ear of him who sees his children perishmg before him and has no means of helping them . Yet even to these , in their worst state of excitement and distress , I would address the Ian-• fjizge of friendly remonstrance , of kindly entreaty and of brotherly affection . I would bid them to remember that thay know the cause whence al ] their suffering ? flow—they know the means whereby
alone a remedy may be afforded ; and I would entreat them by the very sense of vroe and suffering —by their love of life , of honour , of children and of country , and car cause , not to rnsh into the lion ' s moa : h of despotism ; not to throw back for an indefinite- period , the chance of that amelioration which the growing greatness of our cause brings every day > and after every prudent effort , nearer to us ; but which one false ,-fatal , step may do much to render cnattainable for many years .
1 entreat , especially , the Chartist body to be csreful , that while they preclude the possibility of any desperate acts , to which starvation and oppression may 4 rivo men , in some localities , from being fixed , by the injurious casuistry of faction , upon them , they to this end be careful to repress the unwise rage for declamation , which is bnt too apt to amuse itself by raisiDg a storm , before which those who have striven to produce it are usually the first to flinch and seek a hiding-place . I think it is especially necessary to give this cautisn to you now ;
because I learn that , in Borne portions of the country , big talkers are abroad , a ' nd that in other parts , active mark 3 of discontent are manifested ; not to be wondered at certainly , bnt much to be deplored . This is a state of things the faction are delighted with ; they have striven hard to produce it ; they will try every meaus for ** nurBiug" it , until it shall have served tbe purpose of more firmly rivetting the chains of slavery , which they thus make their victims to forge for themselves . The free traders , the Corn Law Repeal crew , the merciful middle-class converts to half Chaniain at half-past
tbe eleventh hour , have been long seeking so to work ap $ n . the passions of the suffaiii ^ people as to cause thwfe- to forget their prudence and to risk collision with the trained bands of power . Their in&endiary placards , pamphlets , and lecturers have been scattered through the country ; wherever suffering was most severe , the " pedlars" have been busy with their knives ; every effort has been made to lacerate the feelings and to introduce tho foul virus of physical resistance through ihe wonads . Hitherto they have failed ; yon have laughed alike at their hypocrisy and mslice until now ; let them not now raise over yoa the fiendish laugh of exultation !
Let us for Heaven ' s sake have no more Newport , Sheffield , and Bradford exhibitions ; no more ShellSj FaosTS , Claptons , and Pebdies , to be victimized , without service to the cause . In last week ' s Norihfi-h Star , you had the report , sent here by some person , of a camp meeting at Clithcro , held on Sundsv , at which laagiiage b&C be-en holden of a
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character most dangerous to the causa and most discreditable to the speakers , some of whom at least arenisn from whom better things might hare been expected . See the use that is made of this meeting by the factions press . The following is the brief notic © of it given by ihe Manchester Guardian . u Chartist Cam p Meetings . —On Sunday last , there was another very large meeting held on Enfield Moor , near Blackburn , to consider the next steps to betaken , in order to obtain the
People's Charter . Many persona present are Baid to have had fire-arms . A person named Marsden , from Bolton , one named Tattersall , and others , addressed the people in extremely violent language . Marsden declared thai they all meant to obtain , arms , march up to Buckingham Palace ^ and demand ihe Charter , If the Queen granted it , well ; but if not , they would know how tonse their arms ; and he HOfED EVEBT MAN WOULD GET BJtADV BY THEIR next meeting . TATTERSALL WAS EVEN
MORE VIOLENT THAN THE ABOVE . Now , friends , I do not quote this as taking the statements of the Guardian for gospel ,-.. but * to show you the necessity of taking care that those who , at a juncture like , the present , are admitted to the position of leaders and guides among you ; made public speakers , and thus enabled , if unchecked , to compromise your whole body by their folly , Bhould be men of prudence and discretion , as well as men who have a sincere attachment to our principles , and who are able to make a speech . As I last week counselled you , so I now implore you ,
cast from you the big talkers , or cause them to become sensible that you are not reckless foolB , if they be . I do not know that this language was used by Maesden , or that Tattersall was " even more violent than this ;' ¦¦ ' I know only that the Manchester Guardian gays so , and that the honest Chartist who Bent the report of the meeting to last week ' s Star , says also that much violent language was used , and that many speeches were made and heard , which would have been much better repressed , and which he therefore very properly suppressed in his report
Let not , therefore , Messrs . Marsden and Tattersall , consider themselves "denounced" by these representations . They best know whether the Guardian has belied them . I hope it has . But in any case I use the allegations of the Guardian , not as adopting" them for the purpose of " denouncing " these individual men , but in illustration and support of the general position that all such foolish and mischievous vagaries should be discountenanced and promptly put an end to by th « people . As a further illustration of tbe mischief of such conduct , see the use the Guardian makes of it in its very next words : —
" On the same day ther * was also a camp held near Fails worth ; about 1 , 500 persons attended . Leach , and another man from Manchester , with several persons from Oldham , addressed the audience ; but the language was mild compared with t'at of the speakers near Blackburn ; some of the speakers contended that they had as good a right to hold political camp meetings on a Sunday as other parties had to hold religious meetings . " Now , I know , and yon all know ^ enough of Leach to feel satisfied that wherever he was thero would be no such folly ; yet the insinuation of the Guardian is that the language of this meeting , though not quite so violent as the other was still most violent and
unbearable . It was " mild compared with that of the speakers near Blackburn . " Thus are we all liable to be compromised , and our cause endangered by the freaks of every mad fool whom the people permit to amuse them with " thetale of an idiot , full of sound and fury , " instead of Beeking to bend their sober , earnest , and unremitting efforts , to the establishment of our principles where they are not known , and the enforcement of them on the rational attention of all .
From letters and rumours which have reached me , I have thought it necessary thns gravely and seriously to point to your attention the precipice , which , if you approach it , will inevitably destroy you . I am but one man . I have but one voice . But whilst I have power to lift that voice , or the means of" at all communicating with my fellow-men , I never will see them sacrificed without warning . I will , so far as my admonitions may be heeded , guard them alike , to the best of my judgment , from the dangers which might arise from an excess of zeal , an excess of apathy , or an
ill-directed movement on their own part , as well as from the open attacks of faction , or the more disguised and insidious ones of those among their own ranks , who seek personal distinction at the hazard of the public safety . Again , then , I implore you , do not sacrifice yourselves , end sell the cause , by any mad freak of violence or indiscreet use of language , such as that intimated to have been used mar Blackburn . You will , of course , do > 8 you please ; but let the issue be as it may be , I shall know that I have done my duty in thus faithfully admonishing and emphatically warning you .
And now for a word on another subject . With tho lessons of experience , and of the most . ordinary common sense before you , it would be an insult to attempt a demonstration that our object , the establishment of cirifliberty and honest policy , can be effected by violence . Peacsfulness and unanimity is that alone by which w » can hope to succeed . By unanimity , I do not mean that we shou'd all think perfectly alike on every subject , or indeed on any subject , for that is a moral impossibility ; but that we should be disposed heartily and seriously to lend ourunited energies towards thegreatpoiiUof carrying the Charter ; that to this all other tnatters should
be made subservient , and that for this purpose we should , in tho excellent words of the address of the Executive , given in this day ' s Star , " cultivate the best feelings of democratic friendship . " Oar political Association should be a United Brotherhood , among whom , quarrels , dissensions , strife , or malice , should be unknown . In their conduct , the most strict sobriety should be observed , and it ought to be the most pleasing duty of Chartists to aid each other in distress , to rally round and protect each other from persecution and ipjury , and an insult or wrong inflicted on one , should be regarded as a deep injustice to all .
u To their advocates , those who ara foremost in danger , and whose patriotic exertions are the mainstay of the movement ; the people should extend the be 3 t feelings of favour and affection , and at all times ChaTtists should be slow to condemn men whose lives have been devoted to the cause , and who have given in many good and virtuous actions , patriotic and positive proof 3 of their political integrity . "
I never read words with which I more heariily concurred than I do with every one of these . I lay before you the whole tenour of my public life , more especially since I became Editor of the Northern Star ; and I challenge any of you to point out any instance in which this has not been my practice ; doing me the justice only to view things in whole and not to separate a single expression or transaction from the circumstances to which it immediately relatid , and with which it was of necessity connected . I seek only , without assuming any undue importance to myself , that the
like conduct should be manifested towards mo . The Executive truly state it to be the duty of the people to " protect all their advocates from persecution , misrepresentation , and wrong . " I fully accede to the truth of this position ; and as it is"laid down with the purpose of claiming the protection of the people against me , I shall so far retort it as to presume upon my right to rank amongst those who have to the best of their judgment and ability , advoeated" the people ' s cause . I seek not protection against persecution , for I am able
to protect myself ; and the only protection against misrepresentation aud wrong , that I require is that the people will look at tho whole facts of the case stated in complaint , and give upon these facts their honret judgment . That , as a ^ ' public servant , I have a right to demand at their hands ; aud that I do demand . I demand that they should look at the whole oircumstanoas of my position , thai tlicy should consider fairly , the treatment I have received , and the spirit I have evinced , and then tell me honestly and like men whether tb . 6 y thiuk I hu . ve
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done my duty , or have deserved the abuse which has recently been heaped upon me . I ask them , 1 say , to look at the whole facts of the case . The Executivo complain and Bay that they " allude with considerable pain to the hostility which ihe Editor of the Northern Star has shown to one of their membere . " JIow this obliges me again , and for the last time , to adduce the whole facts of this matter . That member of the Executive and Mr . O'Bbibn are the only two men who during a very long public life have succeeded in fastening upon me a public quarrel with men of like principles to my own . And how has this been done 1 I have a right now to
demand that the people should look at the whole case . The Executive admit that they are " fairly open to fair criticism " --that their " public documents , recommendations , and actions are fair game for public approval , discussion , or condemnation ;" while at the same time they complain of the hostility which the Editor of the Northern Star has shewn to one of their members . Now when and where did this hostility begin ? aud how has it been manifested ? The Executive ought to have stated this ; they do not state it ; and , therefore , I must . Up to the 12 th of last March , I had seen nothing in the public documents , recommendations , or actions of the
Executive , either as a public body , or in their separate and individual capacity , which , in my judgment , was likely to do anything for the damage or retarding of our cause . Whatever " . critioism , " therefore , had been exercised by me , had been , up to that period , commendatory . I received , during that week , reports of the Bath conferences , at which one member of the Executive had taken a position which I believed , and do still believe , to be an unwise position—a position calculated to do damage to the cause : and
believing thiB , I said so . I said it , not in such language as that member of the Executive has used towards me ; but in mild and respectful terms , in terms which no man can say were not those of fair criticism . Surely it will not be contended that the conduct of the parties to the Bath conferences was not a fair subject for the expression of opinion ; and surely it will not be contended , that what I said upon it was any thing more than the expression of opinion , aad that , too , in very modest terms . Here is every word which I did say : —
"We refer with great pain to the proceedings of the Conference at Bath , between the Sturge Declaration men and some leading Chartists of that city . We respect Vincent for his seal , his talent , and his Buffering in the cause , as highly as we respect any man ; we believe him to be thoroughly honest and well-intentioned , but we cannot but regret the position he baa taken in this business . Still more do we regret to see joined with him Mr . Philp , a member of the
People ' s Exeoutive . Doubtless these gentlemen give the new converts to Complete-Suffrage credit for a large amount of honesty and sincerity . We cannot < io bo ; and we fear , if the people should be led into any general countenance of the steps taken by these gentlemen , that the error will not be found to be less fatal for having been an amiable one . Once more we tell the people they must keep right on , swerving neither to the right hand nor to the left , or they will be * used , ' left , and laughed at . "
Here , in this little extract , is the whole root and foundation of all the raving that we have had ever since about" dictation" ! and denunciation" ! The next week , resolutions of the . people strongly condemning that member of the Executive , and calling upon him to resign his seat forthwith , were poured in from almost all quarters . I gave one of them is a sample , and kept out all the rest ; merely naming the places from which I had received them . I then , in returning to a consideration of the subject , made
these remarks : lf We repeat , as we said last week , that we respect these men for the talent and the zeal they have hitherto manifested in the people's cause ; we reppect : some of them for the sufferings they have endured it . the cause ; but we cannot in this case compliment their judgineat . We doubt not that they err from the excess of their anxiety to seize every opportunity of making converts to the Charter , and from their readiness to estimate the motives of others by their own , and so to give the middle-class Sturge men full credit for sincerity in their profession of Universal Suffrage principles : they suppose them to be sincere in wishing for Universal Suffrage , and that , therefore , i hey can easily persuade them into
the adoption of the ocher points of the Charter . We think them much mistaken ; and we still opine that their error will not bo found much less fatal for being amiable . We feel some little difficulty in finding out the plane upon which the aaiiable principles ' ; of our friends Operate . We are at a loss to know hpw they discover , ln this 'Declaration' any distinct and unequivocal recognition of the princi p le of Universal Suffrage ; and if that recognition were even palpable , we are astonished that they , some of whom have suffered so much from middle-class treachery to principle heretofore , can havo 60 eimple a dependency ou their adherenoe to principle now . We find iu Mr . Philp ' s speech , at the Conference , as reported by himself , the following sentiment : —
" ¦ •; But suppose the worst—that the middle-classes were not houest ;— 'that they signed this declaration as a false pretence ;—could they ever agaia sit in jury boxes aud convict us as traitors and conspirators for contending for that principle which they themselves had declared in black and white to be the rightof the peopled " Now , surely , Mr . Philp must have forgotten , in the goodness of his heart , the experience of all the last five years . Who have been the most forward in the Jury boxes , and on the bench , to convict and seja ^ tence ChartistB ? Have they not been the very parties who have , over and over again , in the Reform Bill agitation , testified to , and contended for , the very same principle—tho principle that representation should be co-extensive with taxation . "
Now , I ask of every reader of the Northern Star , to read these two paragraphs , quoted from the Star of the 12 th and the 19 : h of March , and say whether they contain anything more than fair critioismwhether they contain a single word at which any man ought to be offended—whether there is anything in them of " abuse " -t any thing of " declamation "—anything of " dictatorship "—anything of ^' assailing the characters of others to elevate " myself by their downfall "I Yet these were the paYftgtaphs which constituted my " hostility" ! to
Mr , Philp , and to which that gentleman replied in his next Vindicator by a long tissue of declamation about the- " dictatorship of the Editor of the Northern Star , ' by declaring -for " independence of thought and of action" ! The whole paragraph-. was giveu in last week ' s Star , and any be referred to again . But I beg that , even now , my readers will read all that I said about this gentleman , ( I have given it every word above , ) and then read with it the following sentences from Mr . PhiipV reply , and say , ( if it was worth my while to complain , ) who Bhould be the man to call out for "fair
criticism . " :, . . ' .. ' - " But there are some mixed up with Chartism , to its prejudice and injury , big in Belf / esteem ; who , having imperfectly learned the alphabet of politics , presume to speak its language . Such men are but drajja upon the wheel . 6 f hum in progression ; their adoration is of ' mkm , not of principles ; their discoursed ABUSE AND DECLAMATION , not ARGUMENT . They seek to cam a reputation ;; and uqt having the ability to gain a People ' s esteem for themselves , they assail the characters of others , that they may ba elevated by their downfall . ? '• " 1 Jabfmr zealously to advance the cause , of Chartism , but I am not to be turned from my path by every ¦ mushroom thai starts up in my way . " ¦ ¦ ¦ . *
" Let me not be viewed through the darkened medium of other men ' s thick heads and black hearts '' I have not even added to this the italics and capital letters ; they are all Mr . Philp ' s own , just as he printed them in the Vindicator . Taia , and tho article of last week , is all the editorial notice I have ever taken of this gent'eman . To that aitiole I now refer my readers ; it is too long to be given over again , but I beg that , in justice to me , it may be read over again ; that along with it Mr ; Philp ' s letter may be read , aud see whether the letter does not justify the article , and Whether after all these things are fairly looked at ; the Execative have any ri tf ht , admitting their own acts to be fit subjects for "fair critcism , " to 2 nd fault with my "hostility iowards one of their body . "
Now for tho other matter of " dehuiiciation" and " kosUlity . " Ou the second of April , the . 'Birming ham Conference began , and on the following Saturday I announced my intention , ofAwaiting for the official report of its proooedingB upon whion to found my comm < nta » y » I received that offioial
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report the week following , and on it I founded an article , which stands in the Star oi the 16 th of that month . I found from the report that Mr . O'Bbibn had been somewhat prominent in the Conferernce ; things were set down for him which I thought unwise aud inconsistent in Mr . Q'Brien . I was very careful in every place where I quoted any thing from the report about Mr . O'Briem , to give everything about him—every word set down for him . In no case did I alter a word , -in nb case did I leave out a word of any ^ peeoh of Mr . p'Bp . iBN's iu that report upon which I commented . I did
not in any one case take simply the words that I objected to , but in every instance gave the whole speech as it appeared in the report . ( And after all the bluster abont that report being an incorrect one , I have since seen a pamphlet containing the official report of that Conference , and which report I have reasoa to : know had been sent to Mr . O'Bkikm with a request that he would make any alterations or corrections he might deem necessary , in his own speeches . It was verbatim with the one upon which my article was founded !) The proceedings of this conference were
most important to our cause . I had a strong opinion upon them , as I have upon the whole Stdbge more * ment . Having that opinion , I should have been dishonest in the extreme to withhold it from you . I should have deserved your execration , if I had seen you led into what I believed to b « a trap deliberately laid for you , mtbout telling you my thoughts about it ; - I did so ; and in doing it I found myself compelled to disagree with the opinions and policy of Mr . O'Beibn . I expressed that disagreement in the most guarded and respectful terms—terms which I imagined could not be construed as offeueive by any man . Here is what I said on the
matter :- — ^ The Cohferenoe has been hel d ; and though Mr . O'Brien is represented as having expressed himself highly delighted with its proceedings , and as having Baid that " when he entered that Conference he expected to meet with men who would admit their principle iii wholesale , and fritter it away in detail ; but his suspicions had proved groundless —( cheers ) . He had , never been in any society—composed even exclusively of working men—in whioh he had found the democratic spirit more thoroughly developed '—a
careful reading of the whole report compels us , notwithstanding our deference to Mr . O'Brien ' s judgment , to adhere still to that which we had previously formed of this whole movement ; and to regard the very circumstances to which we have no doubt Mr . O'JB . referred , as the ground of his satisfaction , as bo much additional evidence that the whole thing is a device of the enemy , and that insincerity is stamped upon its every feature . We repeat that we are able to discover in the whole movement , of which -this Conference is the most prominent and distinguishing feature , and in the conclusions and resolutions come to by the Conference itself , no purpose save one , —
which is the exact converse of the one avowed ; no evidence but that of deeply-concealed hostility and well-covered treaohery , to the great cause of democratic rule , for the success of which so much appearance of anxiety is manifested . We of course intend not that these strictures shall apply personally to each , or any , member of the conference . That there were there those to whom they are most strictly applicable , and who will feel their truth , we Verily believe j and that there were there those who , like O'Bbibn and others recognised as Chartist leaders , " hoped all things" out of fervent charity , and were therefore indisposed ° .
" To pry too nicely ' neatb a specious seeming , " we can ha \ e no doubt . " . ' .--.. I then proceeded to examine into the acts and sayings of the Conference , as given in the report before me , and concluded my survey of those acta and sayings with the following paragraph : — " What then is the conclusion forced upon the mind by all these proceedings taken as a Whole ! The avowed object of these men is the uniting of the wholeenerffiesof the whole people , and particularly
the uniting of the middle and working classes ; and they prosecute this object bj a means which can have no other effeot than that of breaking up , as far as it may be successful , the union of the workingg classes Already established . This may be sufficient to prove to Mr . O'Brien that his suspicions of the Sturgeite ' s were groundless ; we acknowledge , however much we may regret , to dissent from his opinion , that upon our mind it has Worked a conclusion exactly the reverse of this . "
Here , then , you have , the whole sum , substance , and amount , of ray ' denunciation" of Messrs . Philp and O'Brien , about which thoso two men have been permitted , ever since , to keep the whole country in a ferment ; for which , from tfiem and their friends , every epithet of opprobrium the language can afford has been unsparingly applied to me in all sorts of ways : — " liar , " " wilful liar , " * ' villain , " ¦«* assassin ^ " hypocrite , " " slanderer , " * ' trickster , " and a string of such like epithets as long as Would fill a column of
this paper , might I believe be picked but of the ravings of these parties and their friends on account of the " denunciation" (!) contained in the paragraphs whioh I have here laid fairly before you . And to crown all , the Exeoutive now think it necessary , in their valedictory address , to join the crusade against the "denunciations " and " unfair criticisms" of the Northern Star , and to claim the protection of the people for Mr . Philp as one of their body . It does not seem to occur to the Executive that the " denunciation" of Mr .
Philv , in the last week ' s Star , rwas ' a necessary consequence of his own conduct ; they seem to think that Mr . Philp , or Mr . O'Bkien , or Mr . Everybody-else should have a right to use every sort o / coarse indecency of language in reference to the Northern 5 / ar , arid to heap upon its conductor every possible amount of indignity and falsehood , while he should do nothing but praise them in return ! The great card , however , of the Executive's complaint of ill-treatment as a body is , the informar tion contained in last week ' s Star , that I have frequently altered the phraseology of their official
documents to prevent their liability to prosecution . The Executivo are most virtuously and vaiorously indignant about this ; arid demand the right of correcting their own documents , and answering for their own ignorance and criminal omissions , to the people and not to me . I should otrtainly like it much better if they would take the trouble of reading the plan of organization , so that their doou * ments should not need correction . As to their being answerable to the people for their
incorrectness , they might perhaps get over that a little easier than the Proprietor of the ^ Northern Star might chance to get over answering to the Government for making his paper the offioial organ of an illegal association . While the interests of the Northeni Star ate in my hands , I shall consider them identical with those of the cause , and I shall not puffer them to be jeopardized by the ignorance or careleesnes 3 of any man or body of men whatever .
A few words will , I think , set this sufficiently at rest , and show the people that the big talk of the Exeoutive about my taking liberties with their documents , is very innocent big talk after all . ; I never made an alteration which could have the slightest effect upon the sense of any document from the Exeoutive ; that they know very welU I never but once had occasion to dissent from the apparent sense or purport of any of their documents ; and I then did what thoy say is my duty to do . I printed it entire , with my own respectful suggestions concerning it . But it has frequently happened , as * it
does this week , that I receive from the Executive a long and important document by the last post before going to press ; there is no time to Bend it back for correction , and to point out the alterations necessary to be made . It is necessary for the public cause that the document shonld be printed that week , and yet , upon examining it , I have found perhaps a word here and there which , if seized upon by the Atiob . NEY- Genebal , would bring both the Execative and the Northern . Star within the operation of the
Correspondmg Societies' Act ; and in these casfes I have made such necessary verbal alterations as I knew would keep usssife . I shall always do ¦ it ; whatever Executive may be in office . I have done it thiB very week . In their address which appears in this paper , the same address in which they go determinedly kick against iny interference , they stylo themselves iu . several plaoes of the original copy whioh came here , the Exeoutiye w Cpunoil" of tha National Char-
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ter Association . There is no such body aa the Executive "Council" in the National Charter Assaooiation ; and I am anazad that Messrs . Leach and Campbell , who : were members of the delegate -meeting , to the expence of which the country was pnt for the purpose of having the organization legalized , should have forgotten the long discussion upon this very point , on which it was thought most difficult to steer clear of the meshes of the law ; The plan of organization , if they had read it , most have shown them that the Executive is ;\ not a
Council . It is a Committee , ^ selected ' from , arid appointed by , the General Cotmcil for transacting the executive business of the Association . Now in the case of this address , then , I had no alternative but to " alt ^ V this expression , or to omit its insertion . Which do the Executive , and which do the- people consider to be the preferable course t And yet this is the whole matter about which the Executive profcest so very indignantly against my ** presumptipn" ! and appeal to the people whether they are to be responsible to them or tome ! All I can say on the
matter is , that I hope the next Exeoutive will give me less trouble in this respect , by reading the plan of organisation , before they sit down to the duties of their office , and thus enabling themselves to produce their dooumenta in accordance with it . At all events , and in any ^ case , I can assure the present ; and every future Executive , that to whomsoever they may hold themselves ; to be responsible , I shall hold myself responsible for the legal accuracy of whatever appears in the Northern Star , so long as the estate and person of its proprietor are left without any other protection than my watchfulness .
And now to bring this long letter to a close . It is my turn to demand , not protection , but an expression of opinion from the people , it : seems to hare become the fashion to " to ran-a-muck" against the Northern Star ; I desire to know whether this be in accordance with the people ' s wish . The Northern Star has been now under my management for nearly five years . During all that time the people know whether it has ever shrunk from its post ; whether it has ever shrunk from principle ; or veered a pin ' s point from the first direction of its compass . I demand that the
people shall look over the columns of the Northern Star , and tell me whether they approve of the bluster about the u dictation" and the " cfenunciatipn" of the / Northern Star , which Is now so fashionable ? I desire them to loot at the plain facts of the case ; to examine the specimens of " dictation" and of " denunciation" which I hate given them in this letter ; ( and I defy any man living to produce from the columns of the Northern Star an allusion to any Chartist leader less respectful in its terms than those I have adduced ; unless it may have been in reply to some
tissue of abuse ); to remember that these fair and kindly criticisms , instead of being received in the spirit so eloquently recommended by the Executive , " with the best feelings of democratic friendship , " have called forth hot , waspish replies ; full of rancour and misrepresentation ; and sometimes full of offensive ribaldry ; that these replies have invariably represented me as an overbearing dictator ; " as " a man with a thick head and a black heartV m " a mushroom springing up in the path" of the giants of Chartism , against whom my criticisms have been fulminated ; as ** a liar ; " " an assassin f " a villain ^ ' aruffian : " a " cowardly hypocrite !"
If I refuse insertion to these violent repliea , to fair criticism and friendly remark , I am then "denounced" as taking an unfair advantage of my position to destroy men ' s characters , withont giving them an oppportunity for reply . If I insert them , and point out , and prove , their falsehoods , and misrepresentations , I am then accused of "denunciation ? the whole matter which called forth my reply for my own defence is conveniently kept out of sight , and at the next meet ing to which an orator presents himself , you are told how shamefully the Northern Star has been '' denouncing" the good men and true of the move *
ment . !^ . . ,. \ ' .. . ¦ ;¦ . ' .. .. ¦ . ' ¦ .. . .- ' . - ' ; . .. ¦' ¦ ¦ . . - ' ¦ , : 7 Now I have no opportunity of attending public meetings in various places to make speeches to you , ' and work upon your passions . My time is fully occupied in attending to your interests here . I am told that an orator in Manchester , on Sunday | threatened , in the ardour of his zeal , that "if he were denounced , he would travel through the world and to the gates of hell , but he would drag the acouaer forth . " I have no such fiery inclination j arid if I had , I have no opportunity of
indu ' ging it ; and that , the braggers about pubufl meetings know very well . I am anxious to do what service I can for the people ; and , in spite of all these little breezes , I always Bhail do bo . I think I am in that position in which I can do it more effectually than I could in any other . So long as I continue to hold that position , I shall do my duty to the people , honestly , fearlessly , and consistently , as I always have done . 1 shall neither flatter their prejudices , nor allow them to be led into danger without raising an alarm . But , though like Mr . P hilp , I declare for "independence , " I should yet be glad to know , positively , and by their
own statement , from the people , whether , in the almost Eve years that I hive served them in my present National capacity , I have deserved to be made thebutt of iiniversal attack , arid of bo mueh " mi 8-representation and wrong" as has latterly fallen to my share . I demand , a 3 an act of justice and of right , that the whole of the Chartist body wherever the Northern Star is known , shall register arid transmit to me by resolution , their opinion , honestly aad fairly given , of its merits ; and that they shall state distinctly whether they consider it and me worthy of their confidence , and will support me in putting an end , now and for ever , to this system of " denunciation and abuse . "
With the same fervour of attachment to the cause of liberty arid truth which has always actuated me , ¦ . ¦/ : ' - . Lam , ¦ . - - ¦¦ •'¦ ¦ . ' ¦ .. ' : : " ; . :- ¦ .: '¦ ¦ Friends , : Yours faithfully , ¦ ¦'• : William Hill .
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William Clabk suggests that ah explication and justification of Chartist policy at the last general election , was a Jit suhject for the pen . of Mr , O'Connor , or some other talented wriler . Wt think the subject has been expatiated on quite sufficient for all parties to understand it ; those who are determined to misrepresent it , will do so whatever may be said . David Weight . —To his first Question we can only answer , that scores of letters for Afr . O'Connor havebeenreceivedhere and forwarded ; whether his may be among them or not we do not kriow > Tothe ^ second question we say , that the storg isf malicious and wicked lie , originate with whom it may . But Mr . O'C . would certainly not "
prosecute" the parties . His letter in comment upW \ . a paragraph from an Aberdeen Correspondent in our last , could do him no good if printed , as if merely repeats what the"paragraph states himp : have said at the meeting in question . We cahr $ therefore occupy space with it . ^ A VvvtL . Leedsimust read his ninth lesson , in $ 1 " Fifteen Lessons" § 0 . "• " : ¦' •'/ •' - »• EccLKS Chartists . —We are at a loss to know hov they can have read any article in last weft'i 8 t&T , so as to construe it into an attack on ths Executive . Certainly nothing was further fro our intention than io attack the Executive , < v
whom as a body tee have always spoken highly i andie&ddnot now need or purpose to withdraw one-iota of the many commendations we hev * thought it-ourduly to accord them ; becausetM never do thus speak of any man or body oj mettf without knowing that it is well deserved- ff * believe none but our Ecoles friends wUlsuspeo t us of having had any purpose t » " lower tht Executive in the estimation of the people , " or M " cancel their , fitness for office ; " and we feet quite sure that % f they read the last week ' s Sw * detain , they will tee that they have done us M " jiistiot , - . ¦ .., - ¦ : ¦ - ' , ¦ - ¦ :.:,. v :. .. ¦ ¦ ¦ .. ¦¦ ¦ . '¦ : ¦ ¦ .. - . >;
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4 ¦ T HEJO& ^ B ^ tos , ' ,
The Northern Stab, Saturday, June 11, 1842.
THE NORTHERN STAB , SATURDAY , JUNE 11 , 1842 .
3to Meaxiev& Anp Corr^Portitcnt^
3 To MeaXiev& anP Corr ^ portitcnt ^
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), June 11, 1842, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct757/page/4/
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