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THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1843.
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PORTRAIT OF W. P. ROBERTS, ESQ.
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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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
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Mr . O'COSSOB has received communications from many districts in all of which » very great desire is expressed to have a pobtbait of Mr . Robert * , the people ' s Attorney-GteneraL We cannot wonder that a strong wish should be entertained to possess a Likeness of so truly amiable , talented , and true a man ; and although vre know that Mr . O'Connor had determined to give no more Portraits , yet we have the pleasure to annomce that all Subscribers for Three Months , will receive
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MANCHESTER DEMONSTRATION IN HONOUR OF T . a DtmcOMBB . ESQ . Parties intending to join the procession hi honour of that distinguished patriot T . 8 . Duncombe , Esq . will have tbe kindness to observe the following regulations . The trades and country friends to assemble in StevenBoVs-Eqnare , at ten o ' clock in the morning . The trades to take the precedence in the procession . The Chartists and other friends sot connected iritb the trades that are walking , are
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TO MB . JOHN JlDD PRATT . 1 Jfsfii , vadtmvz . Xvtti neockinws , catt d ^ ftremtis rectum td&sUUam . " ^ Sir , —Lest the exact duties ofyour office aheuid not have been setforth fe the commisdon under which you held it , I bm thought It proper to set forth the condittons « pon wlikh , and upon / which only , a people ©¦ we any aliegltfBQe to the reigning monarch ; and Sir , as it s a nrfri « a Quit "the Slog can do no wrong , " it i » iot te that high officer , bat to those subordinates ' ¦ bo are ^ placed In authority under him , that the people are . WlttSt for the falfilmenV t / l tha above conditions . You indeed have refused to " aeH , " bj denying" to tu the paver of eren purchasing our right ; -while dressed in a lit&e brief authority you have endeavoured to reconnnsD& yonraelf to your toaster by insulting those I « -whose benefit ire are told they govern and by whose labour they are supported . Yon haw not only violated your duty bat you have done so intentionally . liave a letter now lying before me in / which is tbe following passage :
"York . Sir , —I fear that your best endeavours to act legally Trffl be frustrated , aa t&i . Tidd Pratt , the certifying barrister , to whom your Plan of Organiration Biistbe submitted , has declared in York , before it was published , that the Chartists expected him to certify their Universal Suffrage scheme , bat that he woald do * o such thing . " You could not ifenposibly have known "whether or not the plan to which you referred came within the provisions of the 10 of Geo . 1 Y , and A and 5 WHL IT ., mud by the former of which your duties are pointed flat , and - < shich duties you have not only flagrantly , bat intentionally violated . Indeed you have sot only -dona bo , but yon hare dose so impertinently .
After having called twice at your office , at -which by the way , your attendance does not appear to be very punctual , and not having found you upon either occasion , upon the invitation of jour eleck I addressed a letter to 70 a on Thursday last , merely requiring such information as you are bound to give . To this letter which " was delivered by joot clerk , at your private residence , you have sot thought proper to reply , which you were doubly called upoa to do , in consequence of your inability from iiifling indispesition to attend at your office . It is but right , Sir , that ihe public shoold know the trite and insolent manner in irhieh yoa have treated iU application for powers to act under the strict provisions of the law . You have returned the printed rules -with the following brief notice in the margin , without , as you are bound by Act of Parliament to do , having pointed oat ose single tenable objection . She following la your noBoe : — ,
" Certificate refused . I am of opinion that the objects of this society , as stated hi the rules are sot within the provisions of the 10 Geo . 4 , c 56 , as amended by -4 and 6 W . 4 c 4 . John Tidd Pratt , 25 th Sept . 18 * 3 . " Such , Sir , is the brief summary vt your supreme will sad pleasure , hi strict compliance with your expressed determination at York , and in direct violation of the Jaw which yon are bound to administer . Every constitutional judge in the country has declared that there is noting illegal in the document entitled the People ' s Charter , The Attorney-General has added the weight of his opinion to this judicial declarationthat is , the Judges of the land and the Attorney-General declare that the people have a perfect right to contend for the enactment of the Six Points contained in the People ' s Charte * . provided they do so legally .
Saving procured this judgment at a very great expence , several large towns in England and "Wales t 3 ected delegates , to the number of thirty-one , to frame ¦ ueh rules and regulations for the furtherance of those principles , the legality of which had been thus pronounced , so that none other than perfectly legal means should be resorted to for Ihe accomplishment of their 2 e ? a 3 object The delegates devoted five whole days to the formation of such a plan as w » uld give to the projected society , that protection which the law guaran tees ; however , when the result of their labours is submitted to you , 70 a presumptuously set yourself above the law , and place yourself in direct opposition to the opinion of those judges who farther declared that there was a legal way of contending for oar principles . I © see wrote a leading article under the head
" A nation outlawed by a faction . " That , air , was baa enough ; but for a nation to be first c&Uawed , and then insulted , by a subordinate official , is stai worse . In my farmer letter I told you that the Society would ^ j" * T ^ » "y expunge any portions of the Plan that were ft > mir'ri ''* "ifr with the law ; and I asked you , as the act directs , to point out those parts which yon refused to certify . But no , still hoping sot xmly for indemnity bet lor approval of jour conduct , jou * throw va upon our appeal to Quarter Sessions against your unexplained refund . Be it so sir : to Quarter Sessions -we will go ; and thence , If necessary , step by step until the ^ "ipgitf * « h » n in proper time * g »™ assemble in Xonaon , and carry their appeal to the foot of the Throne , accompanied by all who shall feel themselves insulted iy being thus denied the protecfiou of the law by one whose duty it is to see it administered .
This is no idle boast , Sir . We have annihilated one faction who persecuted us by appealing frem the law to the angry passions of a class , and we are not going tamely to submit to that tyranny which would appeal from the law to an insolent dictator . It is my opinion Sir , that you never read the rules and objects that you refused to certify- Ton have certified far Associations tamer nearly similar rules—certainly excepting those wMehrete to Pjifnerjoi Scrape ,--Wbieb . howeret the Judge * u& tbe Attorney-General lave certified for yon .
In file same of common sesse Sir , did yon hope that 2 ? a 5 , Botton-strest , Piocsdilly , was the Palace of Justice , and that Mr- Tidd Pratt , certifying Barrister , was the monarch there enthroned ? Sid you for a moment admit the notion that your refusal would paralyse the nation's energy , scatter all the elements of union , and destroy all the prospects entertained from the legal working of the national mind ? If such Sir , was your notion , yon have doubly erred ; firstly , in your poor opini # n cf the people ; ani secondly , is your great opinion of yourself . This is not the first or only occasion , Sir , where out of . evil good has come ; and oat of your endeaver to crash our Association in its infancy will arise an amount of angry enquiry , as to the difference of opinion that exists between the Judges of the land and Mr . Tidd Pratt , certifying Barrister .
If I required any further stimulus than that which has hitherto urged me on in support of those principles , the contending for which the Judges say is perfectly legal , your intolerant and overbearing conduct has furnished that additional spur . Many men Sir , have unwittingly created Chartists ; it was left for you to outstrip all your predecessors in the good work . Sir , I shall sot only prosecute an appeal against your decision , but I will spare no expence hi having an pinion upon your conduct , so that the country may know whether you are a servant to act epos your instruction * , or a master before whose will all , even the law , must bend . 1 m , sir , your obedient servant , PXAXGtTS 0 "CO . f 50 B , Treasurer to the Association . 24 , Conduit-itreet , Sept SO , 18 * 3 .
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TO THE CHABTfSTS OF NOTTINGHAM AND SOUTH DERBY . Bbotheb Dzmocxais , —On Sunday , September the 24 th , I proceeded from Nottingham to loughborough by the quarter to seven o ' clock train s-in ., and arrived there by eight o ' clock . I immediately sought the residence of Mr . Satton , and found that gentleman ' at home , who jave me a hearty reception . After breakfast we went to the house of Mr . Jfchn Skevington , and found him at home also . The old veteran in the good cause received me very kindly . About eae o ' clock p . m ., Mr . Button and myself left Loughbarough for Forest Lane , near Ashby Road , where we found several of the
friends : but owing te the place sot being generally known , the meeting was sot so numerous as it otherwise would have been : however there were a tolerable somber present In the evening I addressed a very large meeting in Sheevshead Market-place . I took for soy text that portion of the Lord ' s prayer wherein it aays : " Give «* this day our daily bread . " The audience of course were edefly working peopJe . and seemed to feel the farce of my statementia reference to the parsons each Sunday praying for daily bread for the people , while at the » me time they were upholding a system which was daily and hourly starring the producers of wealth , and consequently preventing them from getting any bread at slL
My good friends of the blue bottle force were in attendance daring the whole of Hie proceedings , and condescended to give their most serious attention to any discourse , for which , I assure you , I was very thankful The principal trade in Sheepsbead is frame work knitting . There are between five and six thousand inhabitants in the above village , who are , I am sorry to say , in a most wretched condition , in consequence cf the lowrateof wages they reseive for their labour-Iwfc it gives jQHLpkasHre , on the other hand , to inform my brother Caartists throughout the country that the people are a truly desoeratie nee .
While in Sheepshead , I had the happiness of meeting , conversing with , and sharing the hospitality of as geod a Chartist , aad I will add one of the best practical agriculturalist * , that I have ever met with . He took ae through his cottage jgarden ; and I never was so astonished as when I saw his cabbage and onion beds , especially the latter . He told me that he had as much as eight strike of onions from 108 square yards of land . ,. There are 4 , 8 i 9 iqaare yards Jn an acre of land . Now , if he had had one asrt , and sowed it with onion seed , it would have yielded 398 strike ; andsnppedng the onions were sold at 4 s . the strike , and that would be the very lowest rate ; for , bear in zoind , onions this time last year were sold at Is . the gallon , which was at the ate of 8 s . the strike ; -the arhole amount would be £ 78 . Suppose again that he paid £ 6 as rent for the acre , and that is more than is generally paid in Leicestershire , especially for forest land ; and suppose also that it took thirty load of
laaasza , at 5 i the load , £ 7 10 a ., and £ 2 for seed ; these thess items is the aggregate would be £ 15 10 b ; leaving Kfaq for his labour—net a year ' s labour , mark yon , nor half : a year— £ 82 10 a . fie has had as much as ten ions ef carroit off 1 , 400 square yard * , which he sold for £ 25 . Jt cost 7 "f" £ 2 IDs for manure ; lot lent , £ l 2 Q ± ; ased , 4 s ; aHogeiiwr , £ 1 4 * j hiring for mebl- weeks Jabow £ 20 lOz .
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On Monday night , I delivered a lecture in Lough , borough Market-plsoe on the land . The Secretary informed me that be had taken down the names of twenty-seven parsons who intend becoming members under the New Plan of Organisation . On Tuesday , I delivered a leetare In Whitwiek Market-plaoe . The meeting was an excellent one . The working people are generally engaged in frameworkknitting and getting coal ; but unfortunately , like all other places I have bees in , steeped t » , the very lips in poverty . The poor colliers do not avenge above six shillings a week when they have fall employment , which is not often the ease ; some of the pits not working more than two or three days aweek . I would seriously recommend to the delegates or Executive Council of the Colliers' Union to look to this quarter as soon as possible , and send a lecturer or two into the district , ( for it is a very large one ) , hi order to establish societies .
On Wednesday night I delivered a lecture in Kegworth Market-place , on the Land and the Charter . On Thursday night I delivered a leetare to the people of Hathome , in the open air , on the Land and the sew plan of Organization . Brothers , I remain , as usual , your servant and fellow * worker la the vineyard of democracy , CHRISTOPHEi 3 > OT 1 JB .
The Northern Star Saturday, October 7, 1843.
THE NORTHERN STAR SATURDAY , OCTOBER 7 , 1843 .
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THE LEAGUE ! THE £ 58 , 000 IS DONE , AND THE CORMORANTS WANT " WOBE . " The League have , at Iaet , produced their balancesheet . Bj it , it appears that the £ 50 , 000 is just about done . It is aJl swallowed up I Devil doubt it ! There are hungry men enough aboni the League , to swallow op twice the amount ; and even " moiie" than that oonld they get it .
The particulars of expenditure that the League have furnlBbed are very general indeed . Th » are are no items : no Bettings-forth of how much Mr . Cobdks has had for travelling expenoes ; or how much John BwGHthas netted ; or how much Mr . J . R . R . Moors has cost the oonfiding dapea who have found the cash . Nothing of this sort is done ; sor are there any particulars of the hire given to the bullying Sedset Skith ; the reepectable and cn ' me-Uu James Aclakd ; and all the hosts of inferior'fry , who do the dirty work . O no ! The Leagne are notgoiag to let their dapes into those sorts ot secrets . Their enly busiuess is 1 o find the money ; it is the League's business to epend it ; and keep the tphthipt of expenditure to themselves !
Their Balance sheet is truly unique . We venture to say its Tike was never before seen . It is indeed a curiosity ; being of all impudent attempts npon the forbearance of a choused people the most impudent . It a worth preserving . Here it is ;—
u THE LEAGUE FUND . " Total Amotjst of Scbscripiiohs Received , £ 50 , 290 143 . ** The heads of expenditure are as follow : — " Printing 9 , 025 , 000 Tracts , and Stamped Publications , and distributing the same—Lecturers ' Salaries , and Expences of birisg Rooms , Printing , &o ., for 651 lectures—Expences of Deputations to 156 Meetings in Coos ties and BoroHgbs—Expenoes
of . Agricultural Meetings , including Printing , Placarding , and Distributing Reports , &o . —ExpenceB of Deputations to Boroughs on Parliamentary Registration—Expences of Weekly Meetings of the Leagne , and Metropolitan Meetings—Rent , Taxes , Gas , and Office Expenoes , in London and Manchester—Advertising , including 426 , 000 Tracts in Magazines—Wages , Stamps , Postages , and Incideatal Expences—Local Expences in Collecting the Leagne Fond . _ _
" Totai Expenditure , £ 47 , 814 3 =. Si . "Balascb o ? Cash is Hand , Sept . S , 1843 , £ 2 , 476 10 s . 3 d . " Is not that matchless ! Was it ever equalled ? Would it be possible to equal it ! It beats by far , the far-famed account of the no less-famed Ghkek PibJ The money ; the £ 50 , 000 , is jost expended . " And what have the payers got for iti A packet of track /'>
Nothing else \ John B&ight in Parliament ! AnyelBe \ The discovery of the trvih—( which the Chartists told them long ago)—that it was useless to hope for a Repeal of the Corn LawB * from the present "Honse ; " and therefore it wosui be folly to think of petitioning it any more t And &r » these all the benefits that the £ 50 , 000 have purchased ! Yes ; all the benefits to the payers ! Not a jot more have they got . With those who have had their picjungs oat of the " Fund" it is quite another thing !
Have not the payers made rather a dear purchase Have they not paid rather dear for their whistle ! That i however , is their look out . If they are satisfied , we presame every one else should be . Bat the cormorants are not " satisfied 1 " The handling of "thousands , " in a general way , with fingers clogged with bird-lime , is too lucrative a job to be given np all at once . "If the spoonies
will bleed , why should we not let them , " is the cry of all the money-takers . So accordingly they raise the cry for "MORE . " u Food being cheap , the great mass of gulls will have hobs to expend on moonshine : " bo let us wear them their penny . " MORE" therefore is yelped out by the solo-performer , on Co vent Garden Stage : "MORE , " "MORE" is thundered forth in chorus by all the " company , " supernumeraries , and all !
One Will Shakspzbe , who used to write plays that have sometimes been represented on Covent Garden stage , says something , somewhere , about an " appetite that did g&ov ? on that it fed upon . " Will was right . There are such monstrosities in the world . The League appetite is % case in point . It was very ksem ; bat £ 50 , 000 would satitfy it . It has had the £ 50 fi 00 : bat so far from the appetite being appeased , or ihe keen edge even taken off , it has cbowk to iwicb its poshes eizb ! It now demands
£ 100 , 000 !!! If there are spoonies enow in the land , it will get it J And what is to be done with the money } Thai i f ^ what is there promised ! More tracts ! And the purchase of seats in the Hoase . " There is no hope from the House" aa it is now constituted : therefore , no more petitioning ; but Regktbatiom , and the SEATING of Fbee Trade M . P . ' s . Come , that is something !
Bnt what a revelation ! There is not likely to be j a Dissolution for jpivb years to come ! The Tories have a majority . They will keep it aa long as they can . Of course , if they can , the tenure of Parliament must run out before they dissolve . Dissolution can only be forced by a union of the perple . The
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Leaguers will not unite ; for fear the people should teap advantage . There will therefore be no chance f or the Leaguers purchasing seats for five years ! And then they will have their work i They will have to purchase one-half ot ihe " house . " " When the f ky falls , we shall catch the larks !" Had not the League better gulp all oub policy at once ; and not take leaf after leaf out of oua book , by piecemeal ? Let them do the thing fully , with a good grace : swallow the whole : and go at once to make H that House" what it ought to be . This would be sooner accomplished than the purchase of one-half of a bad lot of seats , rotten and corrupt as they are ! The League might thus save £ 99 , 000 out of their £ 100 , 000 ; and get all that they ought to have into the bargain !!
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REPEAL OF THE UNION . Alas , poor country , Almost afraid to know itself . If there is one duty of a public journalist more pleasing than another , it is that of being able to review his own works with satisfaction , and to challenge the criticism of others with confidence . Since the commencement of the agitation for a Repeal ef the Legislative Union , we have viewed the question solely upon the grounds of principle , without reference to those who were engaged in its accomplishment . Nay , we rather relaxed
somewhat of our wonted severity , when canvassing the modus operandi by which success was to be achieved . As soon as a period was assigned to the struggle , we were the first to sink past recollections , —and they were many and bitter , —in oblivion . We did this ia the hope of gathering up the whole national mind into one volition for general action ; and were satisfied to be , for a time , the duped , rather than stand factiously aloof , resting upon our fears and apprehenBionB . We implored for Mr . O'Connjeli . a fair trial ; we pointed out the injustice and
imprudence of pushing him too hastily forward , or of too nicely canvassing those counter stratagems by which he might be compelled to meet the devices of the enemy . All to whom the question of Repeal is interesting , have read our several commentaries upon the subject ; and while , as advocates for the measure ? we promised and gave to it oHr very best support , we also pledged ourselves for the faithful performance of our duty as censors , when we saw ju 3 t cause for doubt or suspicion : doubts , not the mere creation of oar own unfounded suspicions , bat doubts engeadered by the plain andlunambiguous
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meaning of Mr . O'Connbu / s own worde . it was not to be supposed that we or the people would have gone on blindly worshipping a false prophet , after he had declared his own incapacity , , notwithstanding the means of fulfilment being multiplied in hia hands a thousand fold beyond what b / j had a rational right to expect . We did not sear'jhingly pry into every apparent inconMstenoy of ftir . O'Connell ; or if we did look narrowly for materials for after comment and general review , wo did not canvass hastily or factiously . If beateo in any one of bis movements , we should have justified a counter move , rather than
have held him critically to the completion of hia object by means of an ill or rashly conceived projeot . We' looked to the bond ; and from it we took the conditions ; which were , that THIS WAS TO BE THE REPEAL YEAR . We further learned that all appeals to Parliament were to be abandoned ; and that under her Majesty's sign manual , the Irish Parliament , as if by magic , was to rise from its tomb in College Green . We have said that we did not hamper Mr . O'Conneix ; and we may add that the Government , bo far from impeding , has , as if thoroughly understanding the lengths to which he would go , and the purposes for which , he would
go those lengths , appear not only by inactivity but by invitation , to have lured him on to his own quiok undoing . He cannot then justify retreat or delay upon the necessity imposed upon him of changing his position to meet the enemy ' s attack . Hia career has not only been unopposed , but aided : and therefore those confiding paupers and zealous patriots who were willing to hazard their little all upon the chances , or indeed the certainty , of a Repeal of the Union after a short campaign , are now justified in demanding why and wherefore the conditions of the bond have been violated , and why another appeal is to be made to the Saxon Parliament 1
At a late meeting of the Repeal Association , Mr . O'CoKsiu . « poke as follows ' : — He had received a petition from ' Enniscorthy for Repeal ; but , of course , he oonld not present it , as the session was over . BUT WHEN PARLIAMENT REASSEMBLED , HE WOULD DEVOTE ONE OR TWO DAYS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SESSION TO PRESENTING PETITIONS FOR REPEAL . " Is this , then , to be the Repeal year 1 when petitions for the Repeal are to be presented in the session ot 1844 , and to a Saxon Parliament , too ! aad with * out other hope or expectation than the mere
creation of further strife and dissatisfaction , upon which the idle ,: the wily , the treacherous , and the trafficking , can lire through another season of weakness and credulity ! Having sold all the Repeal seats to Whigs ; having denounced the very mention of Repeal daring the last General Election ; and having repudiated all hope of redress from the Saxon Parliament , does Mr . O'Connell hope to add additional proof of English indifference , when he himself has purged the House of Commons of all the Irish blood that would have backed the Irish ia their demand for justice 1
It must make the heart of the zealous sad , and the cheek of the valiant glow with the flush of indignation , when contemplating the reckless manner in which the rights of Irishmen are " set" to auction , and knocked down to the highest bidder . Already the worn-out figures are drest in the captivating costume of office , to carry reflection from the thinking mind , to the fascinated eye . We read of the liberal corporators attending Repeal meetings , decked in their corporate buckram ; bedizened with the emblems of the conqueror , and shrouded in the ermined habiliments that Ireland so nobly won from the proad invader . What a triumph ! to see our patriots on the rath ot MuIIagbmast with cocked hats ,
velvet robes trimmed with ermine , aad gold chains won at the expence of church money , paid by the Catholic voter ! Well indeed may those knighterrants in search of Irish liberty present a drum as a fitting emblem of their noise and bluster , to their insulted Williamite brethren ! Well may they contend for the right of the Orangeman to hold his land free of rent from the grantees of the Orange Prince ! Well may they eulogize the patriotism of Londonderryi and dignify their journals with a transcript of Mb letter 1 The thing they hope will last their time ; but we are much deceived if the Irish people , with the Irish , clergy at their head , will allow all their triumphs to pass away in another appeal to the Saxon Parliament !!
Has Mr . O'Connell so sunk the character of man and gentleman , as to design another visit to the Saxon Parliament , for no earthly purpose but that of standing up to receive tbe insult and vituperation of Eoglish lordliogs and aristocrats , to constitute a new stock in trade for another agitating campaign f Can he hope to arouse a kind of sectional warfare , and to divert the Irish mind from all thought of Repeal to a consideration of the insult which he courts , and which he medidates a journey to receive ! Will this increased resistance upon the part of the Government be construed by him to the Irish
people as proof of the increasing hostility of their English brethren ; or will not his prostitute press tell the people that he sold the Irish nerve that would have strengthened his arm for the struggle , and would have defended him , as it did before , against the insults of his opponents ! If the Saxon Parliament is to be again resorted to , where was be , and where was bis " truck '' baronets , his stipendiary magistrates , and his sworn supporters , when the petition of 3 , 500 , 000 gallant Englishmen for a
Repeal of the Union was presented , by the bold and uncompromising Duncombb ! When the Right Honourable Gentleman shall present his petition from the fighting men of Enniscorthy , will reference be made to the 3 , 500 , 000 English petitioners ! No . The strength given by England to Ireland will be thrown in the shade ; while her weakness , as opposed to the hostility of England , will be paraded by the West Britons as a justifiable reason for returning' to the instalment principle .
In the midst of all these disheartening circumstances , we have the one consolation that Dr . M'Hale and the Irish priesthood are not to be seduced from the path of virtue . No ciroumstanoe so fully demonstrates the zeal and attachment of the Roman Catholic Clergy to the cause of Repeal as the admitted fact , that they have cheerfully submitted to large reduetums m their own hardlyearned dues , in order that their flooks may be the better able to contribute their quota to the cause of Repeal . We believe it to be an undeniable fact , that since the commencement of the present agitation a
vast number of these disinterested pastors have actually denied themselves the common necessaries of life , in order that the patriotism of their flocks should stand high upon the national roll . They have never lent their minds to the base subterfuge of diverting the national struggle to the mere restoration of the Whig party t No : they are for the most part , if not altogether , the Bons of the soil , as we gather . from their Irish names . They visit the squalid hovel of wretchedness ; they sit resignedly by the dying patient ' s bed , unawed by infection , unruffled by the taunt of the oppressor .
They are Irish by blood , Irish in language , Irish in religion ; but "aliens" in the land of their birth . Their feelings are Irish , their flocks are Irish , their minds are Irish , their generosity , their patriotism , and their sympathy for their oppressed and suffering , charge , ar « all—all Irisbj ^ -characteristiofl which will not allow them to submit to their own aad their country ' s degradation . They look to Repeal as the means , not of enriching themselves ; but of enabling them the better to discharge those duties
which as Christian ministers they are bound to perform . They are not appointed to the high and sacred office of pastor for their vices , or their subserviency to existing authority—they are nominated for their virtues and their devotion to their country , their flocks , and their God . They are only rich in hope and graoe . . Their lives are simple—their manners mild—and their wants but few ; and few though they be , they have been made the more pressing by the recent demands upon the poor contributors to their frugal comforts , for the means of acMfcving
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their country ' s freedom . It is to these unassumiDg patriots , and not to the overpaid braggadocios who revel upoa the proceeds abstracted from their little hoards , that we look for the accomplishment of a Repeal of the Union . Will they , we ask , coneent to this proposed procrastination ? Will they be parties to placing stumbling blocks , ia the otherwise unopposed course of the Irish people ?; Will they tell them from the
sacred altar that 1843 is not to be the Repeal year t and that in 1844 another appeal is to be made to the Saxon Parliament ?] We doubt it . But should they venture upon the hazardous experiment , we have still that reliance upon an appeal to the sober mind of " United Irishmen" which buoys us up with the hope , that the days ; of mock patriotism are gone ! DeW'on has faded before the light of public opinion ; aad to be ] honoured , the directors of public opinion must be honest !
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THE "COAL KINGS" AND THE FEMALE JCOLLIERS . So ! The exposure we have made of the trampling upon the law by the Duke of Hamilton , in the employment of not ! less than sixty females in his Colliery works , at Redding , has produced a " great sensation" at Falkirk ; and , at last , the Fiscal is , beginning to move ! He bad better ! He should have moved long ago . Whether he has had a" poke in ihe ribs , " or not ; from Sir James Gbaham , we have not the means of knowing : but if it be so , Sir James has done no more than his duty . We shall
wait anxionsJy to hear tbe result of his moving . There is also a f stir" among the Carron Iron Company . The relation of the fact that they have more than one hundred females employed in their coal-works ; and that the Magistrates , and Procurator-Fiscal , and the Sheriff , had refused to interfere and enforce the law ; the relation of these facts , and t&e calling of the attention of Sir James Gbaham to them , has produced a commotion amongst the Carron Company of Iron men . In this case
the " move" is a dastardly one ! The poor slaves of the pits are to ] be made the scape-goats for the Carron Iron Company to ride away upon ! "The company do not employ the women ' "The workmen do it ! " W , hat cowardice ! Who do the pits belong to ? Who pays the wages ! Who are the masters ? The Iron men ! or " the workmen" ! The dastardly" move" will not serve the Company . It will shew their baseness , their unutterable baseness : but it will not help them out of the mess .
It delights us to learn that the hen are taking up this question in a proper manner , and with becoming spirit . The Duke and tbe Carron Iron Company had bettor M move" quickly ; had better " move" the women out of their pits , and put men there : they had better take this step , * nd quickly , or they wil ] have to figure before the Coubt , as breakers of the law ! The step determined on , by the men of Falkirk , is just tbe right ; one . It cannot fail to have the law enforced . Their Memorial will bring the facts legitimately before Sir James Gbaham ; and then he must " move . " The Duke and the Company had better look out .
The following we take from a report of a meeting of Colliers at Falkirk . ! It behoves the Duke and the Carron Company to look at it : — " Mr . W . Daniella was now called upon to read an article from the Northern Star of Sept . 23 rd , headed 1 The Coal Kings and the h * w , ' which gave universal satisfaction ; and a vote of thanks was given to the Editor for bis defence of the oppressed collier against
ihe high and mighty ones / Ik was then carried that a Memorial be drawn ap ^ and sent to Sir James Graham , calling his attention to the fact of the Duke of Hamilton and the Carron Iron Company employing females in their-coal-pits ; and informing the Home Secretary that neither tbe Fiscal , Sherif , or Magistrates would interfere 1 That Mr . W . Dliniells be requested to draw up tbe Memorial , and that ' it be signed by as many colliers as possible . " |
That ' s the way . Give a plain unvarnished statement of facts : and attend well to the answer that Sir James Gbaham returns . So mooh for the Scotch LAW BREAKERS . They claim our Erst attention , because there is a Duke amongst them ; an hereditary law-maker ; a commissioned law-administrator ; the head ot the magistracy of a whole county , being the Lord Lieutenant , and , as such , the Queen ' s representative . A gang of law breakers , with such a man as this for head , or Captain , ) surely ought to have
precedence in attention . Having bestowed that attention upon them , we now turn to England to have a sort of peep at the law-Break iNO-doings of the ''Coal Kings" there . Last week we detailed the doings of Mr . Whallet , a Whig-Magistrate , at Wigan , who has about twenty females working in his pits ; and also the doings of Mr . Preston , who has also females working in his pits . In these cases we exposed the manner ia which these worthies attempt to gull the public , 6 # having the females dressed up in male attire !! Ihis week we have to record
more breaches of the law , by " Coal Kings . " If we go on , we shall have a pretty batch of them in a short time I Let the reader ; and let Sir James Gbaham in particular , pay attention to the following : — " Sir , —You may depend upon the following facts , for we can prove them to be true . " Mr . Robert Lee , of j the Hodghead Colliery , near Bacup , has in his employment seven girls . Mr . Pilling , Hodghead Colliery , near Bacup , has four girls employed .
Mr . Buckstone , of the same place , employs two girls . James Lord , Trough Colliery , near Bacup , employs two girls . Lord Deardean , Land Colliery , employs two girls . Mr . Townsend , of Bacup , employs five girls . And Mr . Haworth , of Coppy Nook Colliery , employs one girL All are employed in mining operations . " We ^ are . Sir , yours , | " Daniel Thompson , ! " John Aim , " Two of the Agents of the Association . " Bacup , Oct . 3 rd , 1843 .
Here are names and places . Will Sir James Gbaham inquire ? Will he gire the Magistrates a nudge ? Is it not time \ Whatever can be the ] reason of the silence of the Press , on this matter , with the single exception of the Northern Star ? For weeks has the Star kept the conduct of the Dukb of Hamilton and the Carron Iron Company ) before the country ; and it is adding to its list of LA . W-BREA . KERS every week . Yet not one single paper else , that we know of , has even touched tbe question ! There is not a week passes , but some paragraph or other is
extracted from the Star and seat "the round of the Press . " How happens it thai all mention of these LAW-BREAKINGS have been so studiously foregone ! Why has [ Mother Goose not had a nibble ? She tries to bite our heels every week : why has she aot had a gobble here ! To say the least , this silence is most striking— most wonderfuly unanimous ! It is the more striking , when we call to mind the torrents of ; indignation poured out by this same Press , when the Commissioners' Reports on the k * dships of Collier life , especially for females , firBt appeared . Not a League paper , nor a Tory paper , ia the Kingdom but wept bottles of ink ; aad " denunofati # n" was the order of
the day . The Weekly Chronicle was almost the first and the loudest at this sort of game : going to the expenee of a page of engravings to bring the toils and hardships of the collier women and girls more vividly before the public . Where ia the Press now ; «< w , that the law which the press so unanimously hailed as a necessary and just measure of protection ; where is the PreBS now ; now that that 'aw is being continually broken ? Silent I Where is the Weekly Chronicle \ Silent ! The females are Btill subjected to the hardships he bo pathetically and piclorially described : yet he opens not his month ! Why ; why is this ? !
Will the Weekly Chronicle lend us bis set of illustrations ? We mean his wood-cut representations of women dragging coal tubs , by chains passing from the waist between the legs ; of women carrying baskets of coal ] upon their heads up the pit ladders ; aad of women descending the goal-pit , cross-legged upon the jclutohing-iron , along with men ! Will he lend us these , his pictures of coalpit hardships upon females } He eeeias to have
Untitled Article
handed over the collier women and their pbotectioi » to as . At all events , he grossly neglects them . And as he makes no use of his ease , mil ho hand it also over to us I
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4 THE NORTHERN STAR . ^
Portrait Of W. P. Roberts, Esq.
PORTRAIT OF W . P . ROBERTS , ESQ .
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THE ORGANIZATION . THE EARBISIKK ' S REPCSAL TO CEBTIFY . The matter of the certifying remains just where it was last week ; with tbe exception that a case has been laid before counsel , for opinion , which has not yet been returned . By the following address , it will be seen that every necessary step will be takea to enforce the Enrolment . We can have no doubt , but that tbe effort will be successful . Tidd Pbatt does not make the law : consequently , what he has certified , to be law to-day , cannot be against law to-morrow , the law remaining unchanged . An idea is started that Tidd Pbatt is acting under instructions from Government . We do no t
believe anything of the sort . If we are to believe that he has received instructions ia this case , we most also believe that he received similar instructions in the case of the Rxcbabitks , whioh body , we find , he treated just as he has treated ours . He refused to certify ; and though they wished him to point out the obnoxious portions of their rules , and they would alter them so as to conform to law , still he would not do that which the Aot that calls him into existence requires him to do . There can be no reason to suppose that Government gave instructions ia that case : and yet his treatment of
that body was precisely similar to the treatment he has pursued towards us . Then , why assume that Government have interfered in our case ! Why seek to multiply difficulties in our way ? The refusal of Tidd Pbatt to certify , arises not in our opinion , from Government interference , but from his own pig-headedness : and bis desire to substitute bis own feelings , his own disinclinations , and his own caprice fob laws . He has evidently mistaken his position . And we must bear in mind that
hitherto , he has done just as he liked in his office . He has had norap-on-the-knucklos administered . Tbe Recabites did not compel him to perform his duty towards them , as they ought to have done . They put up with his insolence : and his assurance has increased . Had they administered the rod , as they ought to have done , his conduct towards us would have been quite different from what it has been . He would have hesitated ere he bad ventured again on the course that brought him into contact with ths law . As it is , we have to bring him to his
Benses . Nor will this be a very hard job . There are not so many difficulties in the way as some people seem to imagine . At all events we see nose : and we are not i nclined to fancy them , when they are not there . If we find them , we will try to remove them . But there is not much use in conjuring them up to the mind's eye ; and then , when we have overcome little obstacles , exclaim , " how very clever we have been" 1 There is not much sense in that course . Let us take and meet the circumstances as they arise ; and not frighten ourselves with dreams /
It is true that Tidd Pbatt signified , in York , his intention to refuse hia Certificate , before the Plan was laid before him . He there also specified the part to which he objected . That specification showed that his objection was purely a matter of feeling ; a personal distaste . That may be overcome , or obviated . At all events , of this we feel certain : that the Enrolment of our Organization can be obtained ; and we think we may venture the assertion , that it teill be obtained .
Meantime the people have plenty of work . They have all tbelr preparations to make . They now have their meetings , with officers , and all other machinery for con ^ DCtiDg the present business . They have , at least , such machinery as has been in existence for the passed year . This will serve their purpose for the present ; and enable them to make all due arrangements for the formation of Branches , Classes , and Districts , when the Enrolment is obtained . They can get their lists of names ready .
They can subscribe their monies . They can talk over , as to who would be the best men for officers , under certain circumstances ; and they can make themselves fully ready for action , whenever the Plan is ready for them . This is oub advice to the people : to go on , just as they are , for a little while : but be making all preparation for the change . The breathing-time , if well improved , will invigorate for more energetic and determined efforts .
Here is the address of the Executive , pro tern ;—14 Fbu-ow Countbtxkn , —We feel regret at being obligated to inform you that with regard to the Enrolment we have bnt little extra information to give ; we have laid the Plan of Organisation before counsel , who have not yet given us their opinion ; bnt on taking office on Monday we shall feel it to be our decided duty , as your duly appointed BervantB , to take the necessary steps to prosecute this matter to a successful issue . We are determined that no efforts upon our part shall be wanting to promote that sacred cause upon the success or failure of which depends the happiness of millions . We are resolved not to permit the caprice of Tidd Pratt or any other Government hireling whose
interest is identified with the prolongation of misrule , to triumph over us without a vigorous and determined struggle ; and we cherish a confident hope that it will eventuate in the enrolment of our Plan of Organization , and consequently in the discomfiture of the pettifogging Tidd Pratt . For further particulars on this subject , we refer you to Mr . O'Connor ' s letter ; meanwhile we must proceed 'Onward' is the Chartist motto . The expediency mongers are in motion . The League is again promulgating its nostrums for national distress ; while Ireland is nobly struggling for the establishment of a democratic principle . Up , then , fellow countrymen at once , with that virtuous determination and energy of purpose becoming men resolred upon achieving the liberty and happiness of their country . Phillip M'Gbath , President . Feabcub 0 'Co » nob . Treasurer . Thos . M . Wheeler , Secretary . "
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THE ROYAL CONGRESS .-WHO IS THE PROPHET ? We contend that the prevention of an aot , or the frustration of a scheme , by timely notice equally establishes the character of a prophet , as if the identical circumstance , the occurrence ef which he foretold , had happened . For instance : if A prophesied that the housa of B would fall upon him , aad smother him upon a certain night ; aad if B in consequence of the warning abandoned the house , and thereby savedhis life , the fact ot Boot being killed would by no means detract from A ' s character as a prophet .
What we are now going to do , is to defend our own title against any charges to which the nonfolfilment of our prophecy may subject as . We know that it is a very usual practice with many ot oar cotemporaries to foretell acts after they have actually from stateness , passed out of memory . Of this school of prophets there is none more celebrated than the Honourable Member for Sheffield , whose extraordinary revelations ia the Weekly Chronicle have bo often amused us . It is only bit by bit that we can learn the acts of Kings aad their Ministers ; and we do assert that we augured as extensive a piece of diplomacy out of the Royal trip as was discovered in the celebrated shake of the celebrated head of the celebrated Lord Btjbleigh , ia Shebidan ' s celebrated play of the celebrated oritio ,
There is no doubt that the King of the Barricades had anticipated a very beneficial result from his snuggery with our fascinating little Queen ; and , from the usual secrecy observed upoa all occasions by the wily old fox , we may naturally conclude that the first fruits Of this new confederacy would have been developed ia some practical form . However , even the regal blow must now be preceded by all the usual forms that characterise the more vulgar set to . We must hare the usual amount of jaw :
of threat ; aad of sparring : preliminaries fox which , ia kingly squabbles , we are to look to their bottleholders—the press . Already we have directed public attention to those awful manifestations announced through the several leading organs of France and England ; and we now turn to other continental journals , as well as to a portion of the Irish press for confirmation of the fact that we were justified ia the deductions we drew from the Royal meeting .
Upon the subject of the Qeen ' s visit we foretold that it was the precursor of a Congress in which Louis Phillips would play Spain against Ireland * In confirmation of this project , we submit the following ominous notices : — Impobtant 1—The " Congbess of Kings- "—The Nuremburgh Correspondent of the 26 th alt . announces , that ia the mouth of November next a
Congress will be assembled to arrange the affairs of Spam . Carliats and Christinos , are to be represented at it * Martinez de la Rosa , Sancho , and Cortina will defend the interest of Queen Christina . Vtllafrauca , Pantoza * and Alvarez de Toledo will indicate the means of effecting a reconciliation . The same journal adds , that the statement in the Madrid journals relative to the intervention of France is merely aa alia-Bioa to the preliminaries of that Congress .
The Frankfort Journal declares that the German and Eastern Powera have all made up their minda as to the marriage of a son of Don CarloB with the Queen of Spain , in order to preserve the principle of legitimacy , and abolish virtually the Salij law . It announces a Congress for this purpose , and adds , Don Carlos consents to the marriage , provided his son have the title of King , and not be merely the Queen's husband . . So far it will be Been that our prediction is streugthend by very influential foreign journals ; while our further anticipations are thus commeated
upou by the Dublin World : — " The state of Spain continues to be of absorbing interest . Torn by sanguinary factions , it is plunged into al ) the horrors and confusion of anarchy . The Joung Qieen , like a signet ring , is passed from one loodstained hand to another , with aa little regard and consideration as if she were indeed , no more than the inanimate symbol of power . What a spectacle to nations who already champ the bit , aad straia the curb of monarchy ! Nor is the danger overlooked by the startled sovereigns ef Europe . Republicanism must be crashed , aad legitimacy established in Spain . That is the altimate resolve ;
and , accordingly , while the King of the French amused the Majesty of England with caresses and cajolery , his promises and bribes ware paving the way for a French army across the Pyrenees . Nor is it likely now that English influence in the Peninsula has been so thoroughly undermined , that the Foreign office will interfere with his design . One of the Spanish parties has solicited the interference of Louis PhiJIippe , aad it is preferable that the long contested question of the Spanish succession should be decided in favour of a Bourbon Prince , than that the dangerous example should be longer tolerated , of a
nation settling its own Government aad constitution according to the popular will . When France is about to put down the national movement in Spain , and establish a despotic legitimacy , may not Louis Phtllippe send a force to crush Repealers ? The antagonist principles of popular liberty aad aristocratic tyranny are rapidly condensing their power , and ranging themselves in fatal opposition . Education , both secular and religious has opened the eyes of the millions , and a struggle is inevitable . Be the conflict brief or protracted , we bid God-speed to the rights and liberties of men , social , moral , and political . "— Dublin World .
-When the above extract is read in connection with our several articles upon the recent Royal meeting , we find , that after-circumstances have led our contemporaries to the game conclusion at which we arrived upon much more slender data . It may be as ia the case of B ., whose life was saved by timely notioe ; that the results , which we anticipated in the outset , may also be frustrated by the general notice of preliminaries to whioh the press now directs public attention , and to meet whioh we even b nticipated our Irish contemporary by directing attention to the improved mind of Ireland . To that
democratic prime minister and directing agent of thought and action , we now look as a corrective of evil institutions , and as a barrier against real intrusion . The hind is marching onward with rapid strides ; while the phantasmagoria of kingcraft and priestcraft is becoming dim ia the aew light . Since we last wrote , Greece , the cradle of science and nurse of arts , has pronounced"I—Greece without a blow has dictated terms to her monarch !—Greece has presented to Europe and the world , that unextinguiehable fraternity whioh in the mind of the truly free must ever exist between the soldier and the
civilian . When King Otho expressed bis desire to submit the popular demand for a Constitution to his Ministera , the people and the soldiers , or more properly , the civil aad military community of Greece replied that the Ministers had met , had deliberated , and pronounced ; and the san that set upon the Dictator ' s head rose brilliantly upoa the people ' s Constitution , Athena presented bo bustle , because Us whole mind , with the exception of Otho , ran in the same current With Greece it was , as with England it will be , when the deep sore of oppressioa shall become unendurable to the majority . No shots were fired : no
clamour was raised ; no seuud of triumph was heard , though the victory was complete . Whether or no Greece saw the passing opportunity of wresting her liberty from the hands of an irresponsible Monaroht while affairs of greater moment occupied the attention , of the three great powers , Russia , France , and England , who have always made that unfortunate conntry a make-weight in their several negooiations , we cannot say ; or whether the rule-of-three method will be resorted to , to deprive her of her liberty , by an inconvenient demand for that debt whioh she owes as the price of her bondage , we cannot tell ; but in either case , the trinmph of combination will be a lesson nob lost to the nations of the earth .
Spam , too , in spite of the intrigues , the machinations , and the treacheries of Louis Philippe , will follow the example of Greece . Is it not marvellous , unaccountable , and " passing strange , " that so enlightened a people as the French should tamely submit to the squandering of their money in perpetuating Bourbon intrigue and tyranny in Spain ? Every man who has followed the events of the last ten years in Spain must haye come to the
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 7, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct822/page/4/
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