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TRIAL BY JOKY
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MR . O'CONNOR IN CARLISLE . —GREAT - ¦ ; PUBLIC MEETING . Ob ISatnrdBy , the 28 th of October , large placards trere issued by the Council of the Chartist Association , announcing that Mr . O'Connor vronld deliver a lecture 3 n liie -large "ball 6 t ihe AtbsBjBnm , on Wednesday evening , origenerBl politics . On the day announced lot the meeting " a letterms receded fronrJJnmfries ^ fetanf ^ hst Mi ; O'Connor had been taken seriously ill , sad Tronldnot be able to attend at the time appointed , fcot would be in C ^ lisls « a therfoTlDTring day . This Vss fejfr as a great disappointment , for it -was then imposilbte to send information to the eonntry districts , bo that mkny readied Carlisle from a ; conslde » ble distonce / oaly to be disappointed and return home again . A drnat ^ ras sent throajh the town annonneing the postponement of the lecture . It appeared , however , that Me O'Connor had somewhat recovered np to one
o ' clock * on fiiat day , and was" determined the people oTCiiBklB " sh 6 nld : not be disappointed , bo he accordingly tired a conveyance , though his fare had been previously paid to come by the mail , but which had left DnrnWrn .. early in tha meming . Mr . O'Connor arrived in CirHsle ; about six o ' clock m the evening , to the jgreat Ktrpriss of Ills friends , who immediately announced his arrival ^ by sending a band of music and a nntnter of banners " about the town . In consequence of those untoward circumstances , it was feared that the meeting would be a complete failure ; but sich was the enthusiasm of the paople , on learning Of Mr , tJ'Cbiniort arrival , that they flocked to the place -of meeting from all parts of the town in hundreds ; and before the time announced for commencing ihe lecture , the large Hall , which is capable of holding 2 , 500 persons , was most densely crowded in every part , and many hundreds had to retire who could not possibly gain admittance .
On Mi . O'Connor making his appearance on the platform , hewasloudly rheexed by the audience ; and commencedhis address immediately after Mr . James Arthur tad been called to the cbair . Mi . O'ConBor spoke for neatly two hours with great ease-and fluency . On 'ft" wftaiia ^ wa-SfcTer-heard-ili . O'Coanor make so able , argumentative , and humourous an address ; and whichj we feel confident , had a good effect on ihe mindset all who beard him . We are indebted to Ihe Carlisle Journal tot the following abstract of Mr . P'Connort speech : —
Sir . O'Cossqs , commenced ids address by stating the pleasure he felt , after an absence of more than four years , in again meeting the working classes of Carlisle . He said he had got on well for the last three weeks ia his present tear of agitation ; but , being in Edinburgh on Saturday night , he had been requested by a number , « f Mi countrymen to address them on the Bepeal of the Union , and the excitement consequent upon it k&d caused him ssTere indisposition . He looked upon a Bepeal of the Union to be indispensable , if She peace of the three countries was to be maintained . The question was of as much importance to ~ ftnpiiiifrnnm and Scotchmen as to the Irish themselves , as , if the Sepeal were obtained by Ireland , it must communicate an electric feeling all over the world , which must
advance tha cause © f democracy . But there were certain principles Teqnired : to be adopted befOTB the Repeal coald benefit the -jrorKng classes . Be trusted he would be able to explain to them what the Charter would do , and how it was to be tarried ; and ha was quite ready to answer questions that might be put to him , as discussion was tbe very main-spring of legislation . Those only denied disenssxon , who lire on the labour of the working classes , and whose principles were sot based Jon truth . He should be Berry to go about the country telling the people they were misgoverned , unless he would dearly point out to them the cause of their distress and the remedy for it There were three parties contending for power in this country —the Tories , the Whigs , and the whole of the people .
He would analyse their respective principles , and begin by dissecting Toryism . The Tories were loath to acknowledge Gie grievaacea of the people , but when compelled to do so by such outbreaks as had occurred in Wales ; i& 9 only sestmm they had to propose was to build more ehurehes—( laughter ) . The Whigs were divided into two parties—political and social . They Bought for the ascendancy of manufacturers over the © ibex interests of tlie nation ; they now clamoured for a repeal of the Corn £ anra ; and they told the people U they were not satisfied with their legislation , they snast emigrate to other countries . To this last proposal , "be ( Mr . O'Connor ) wouli give the answer of the landlady to the sailor , who , on complaining of his bed bang infested by bugs , was requested by her to leave
it ; but he said " No , be would shake them off , remake his bed , and enjoy repose . " There were the bngs who liven in idleness on the produce of the working classes ; and , in God ' s same , if a necessity existed for emigration , let them go out of the country . There was j gT ^ fcftiffei ^ nfA frat eMm ifgiHm ^ ta Tvwyiimi and legi-£ mave Wldggery , Up to the passing of the Beform BUI , Whiggery meant the principles of the revolution of 1686 , to prevent the prerogatives of the Crown infringing on the rights of the people ; but sinoe lhat time the question of cheap production , and the ether dogmas of political economy , had | become the principles of Wbiggery . ' . The Reform Bill had not even answered tiie expectations of its promoters . The Erst thing the working classes innst do , should-be to
zetUe on a principle which would satisfy aQ classes of the community ; and he { Mr . O'Connor ) could discover it only m ths principles of the ~ People * s Charter—( cheers ) . ' It Bocght to take from no man ; but was founded « n the Christian precept of " do unto others as yea would they should unto you ; " and he questioned whether those were practical Christians who refnaad the people the franchise which they ought to enjoy . The law in the hands of the Tories was like a dog in a leash , ready to be let loose upon all who dissented from their political principles . The Tories would not prosecute a Tory ; the Whigs would not prosecute a Whig , lor th £ expression of * " * opinions ; while both united tears and soul to prosecute a Chartist , who sought only to establish right principles . The C&artistB were called
impracticable * , wno would come to so compromise , and tad refused to join in the agitation for the principles of Free Trade . Now they had . no ejections to the principles of £ ree Trade : they were ' the only Free Trad&rs ; butthsy were too good workmen to start workwithont proper tools . They wanted free trade in legislation before everything else , The Free Trade agitators were , Ska Pagazdni , playing all on one string—Free Trade , iEre * Trade . It was nothing but the crotchet of- capital to make the working classes the slaves of the capitalists . They would never be able to carry this measure without admitting the people to a share of the Constitution . They ( the Chartists ) had been called Tory - Charfcta j but let the working classes Save twenty men in the House of Commons , and they would
join in destroying Toryism for ever . If any man in the "world osght to seek satisfaction and revenge of the lory party , he ( Mx . _ O'Gonnoi ) waa that man i and if there was one individual on tie earth who despised Ihe Tory party in name and nature , and would join tomorrow In destroying them , he was that man . Why he hated the Whigs was , that they did not destroy the Tories -A-nfi now let them look at Chartism . In all agiiatlons there were three great stages necessarythe first to create public opinion ; the second to organise it ; and the third to direct that organizition to a succeEsful issue . While creating pnblic opinion , it was necessary to use * r >» i * fng language ; to-depict "wrongs in the must forcible manner ^ to call minder , murder ; and a spade , a spade and whether it took place in a
prison , on a gallows , or in a cold JBasffie , it was equally ihe same . The Chartists had suffered much from using exciting language ; bat he ( Mr . O'Connor ; declared that if b . B'were next day proceeding to organize a new party , ke "weuld endeavour to arouse them to a senBe of their degradation , and then show them how the evils they groined under could bs destreyed . The Beform Bill was carried without these necessary stages of agitation —it was carried by brate force and intimidation , and tad failed to benefit the working classes because they tad not given it the requisite consideration , or gained such information of it as they tad now done of the Charter . The House of Commons should , as it were , be ihe grsai heart of the nation , from which should jbw streams of vitality and prosperity , so as to prevent
every i " W from starving who was willing to work ; and the people now sought to cleanse the Augean stable , that they might establish principles and pass measures which would turn the Improvements to machinery to Ihe benefit of all , instead of aggrandizing and Enriching » class , as at present . He was not opposed to matJunery—nra was any one in that room—if it had been mule man ' s holiday , instead of man's-curse . Thengh te ( Mr . O ' Connor ) opposed the Free Traders , it was sot because lie objected to the -principles © f -Free Trade , but because , while agitating for this crotchet , they would not touch upon the general grievances of the country —( applause ) . They reminded him of the story of the Highland lad who accompanied a gentleman on his shooting excursions . The centleman was
pleased with the lad's activity , and would have taken blm into his service , and for that purpose enqnired of bis father his character . The old man replied his character was well enough , enly for an unlucky knack he tad xif lying , and swearing , and cursing , and thieving—( much laughter ]; and so he ( Mr . O"C > nnor ) said of the Free Traders . They were well enough , only they had got an nnlnekly knack of robbing the working man cf bis wages . There was a true saying that labour was the source of all wealth ; and it was equally true that land was the source of legislation in the House of Commons . Unless labour was protected , all classes between ihe labourer and aristocrat must Ids injured . SnppQSing machinery to go the -work of 2000 mtn , of what use would the small traffic consequent os that machinery be to the shopkeeperj in comparison with that of the Labourers formerly employed . There was a difference
between equal and equitable . The CharUsts-had often been charged with Bering an equal distribution of property ; but' it was a calumny ; tiey wanted it only to be equitable . Supposing the master of the machinery he had apoken of before , which Euperaeded the wo ^ k of SOOa men , wanted "wine , sugar , or ought else , he did not buy it in the neighbourhood , but sent to Lsadon for it It did no ' s replenish the tfllsof the EhopkeeperB ; ¥ ct if the 2000 men were employed , they would yield a large profit to the shopkeepers of the neighbourhood . TM » showed the necessity , he said , tf- the middle classes joining for the attainment of the t , "harter . The Tory government protected the interests of the Whig middle classes ; the Whig government protected the interest of the Tories ; but they bcih xefossd to grant the pri-nlege 3 the Chartists looked feT , -well knowing ; if they oi < 3 so , they would fcave to disgorge their ill-gotten
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gains . The Charter meant nothing more than an improved system of applying the national resources , and a more equitable distribution of the same . Whenever rajjnst laws existed , they caused social discomfort , which" was ever tie cause of political discontent It was the poverty of the mass which upheld the Chartist and other agitations ; and he ( Mr . O'Connor ) believed , if the working classes were comfortable in their circumstances , they would think very little of the Obarter—{ hear ) . There were no party in England satisfied , except those who lived upon corruption—both Scotland , Wales , and Ireland were equally dissatisfied . They were in tha Bame state in Ireland as they had been for the last fifty yean—the same grievances existed . Every
Government , from the time of Pitt , had acknowledged them , but declared themselves incompetent to find a remedy ; but when thus acknowledging their incapacity , why hold the reina of power , and ¦ keep out those ~ who would remedy their grievances ? If , with a revenue of fifty-four millions a-year , tbey could not govern the ceuntry , better abandon that Government , and give it into the hands of the peeple , who knew their grievanees , their camse , and remedy . In Ireland the Reform Bill had limited , instead of extending , the representation . The Tory landlords saw that as lesg as they kept their lands clear of Catholic tenantry , so long would the Church be out of danger ; and tbns had the Reform BUI caused a greater emigration to England and Scotland than would otherwise have taken place ; and
this increased competition in the labour market , had no doubt tended to reduce wages ; and thus ' it was that the English and Scotch , were interested in the Rspeal of the Union , and the establishment of a right state of things—( applanse ) . Ireland wonld never be benefitted by Bepeal , unless the poor Catholics wtre enfranchised , as well as the Tory landlord ; and , if the Irish gained the Bepeal , the Charter wonld not be long in following it After dwelling ssme time on Irish affairs , and , with a compliment to Father Mathew , expressing bis conviction , that sober Ireland wonld carry the Repeal of the Union , Mr . O'Connor said their enemies harl asserted that Chartism was
dead ; butit was not so . Mr . Duncombe , M . P ., who had been with him at several meetings in Scotland , bad not only declared himself for the Six Points , name and all , bnt bad become a member of the National Charter Association . He ( Mr . O'Connor ) had enrolled a great many names during his present tour ; and , though it was denied that the Chartists had any power , they might point to the tomb of Whiggery , and say , behold it there ! There was a space left over th « dead body of Whiggery to entomb Toryism , when the people were prepared for It . The very policy pursued by the Tory Government in Ireland and Wales would drive Peel and the iron Bake from the head of affairs .
It hod been asserted by s nobleman in the House of Commons , that it was . Feargus O'Connor who had brought back the Tories to power . This was when he was as a felon in York Castle ; bnt n » w surely , that he had liberty , he would be able to beat both factions ; and be pledged himself to that meeting , that he would never join in any namby-pamby , ahuttleeock movement , to shift power from one party to another . ( Cheers . ) There was no difference between a Whig and Tory government 4 pnt them is a bag and shake them , aad yon may take the first that comes « p . He -would lay them down a rule in political economy . Suppose there were ten thousand men required to do the whole work in Carlisle : and to meet the exact demand of the
market ; and suppose that two thousand idlers came to town , their presence in the competitive market would in a short time cause the masters te pay less wages to the twelve thousand men than they had done to the ten thousand before ; and it would have been better for the ten thousand employed to subscribe to keep in idleness the two thousand , than allow them to enter into competition with them . As laud was the source of legislation , and of all tree power , he ( Mr . O'Connor ) wished to see the people get hold of it . Although France had a population of about forty millions , it had only two hundred thousand voters ; bnt the people live , with this lack of the franchise , as they were comparatively comfortable , and alanest every one had a portion of land . The French had destroyed the law of
primogeniture and this had caused the land to be better divided . He ( Mr . O'Connor ) bad se « o a French pea-Bant in the domain of a French proprietor , cutting Tats vegetables or whatever he required ; on expressing bis surprise to the landlord , he told him that twenty thousand acres belonged to him , while thirty thousand acres belonged to the peasantry ; and he could not purchase it , as they would not sell one particle of it Those who had land Were alvayB the most independent ; and one great reason why Ireland could stand out more for her rights than this country was that almost every man had at least five or six months provision on hand . The werking classes of EagUnd live from hand to mouth . Their ancestors never would have wrested Magus Charts from King John if tbey bad not lived an agricultural
life , had tbey not had their pig on the crook , their meal in the chest , and their granaries well stored . The Charter meant the voluntary- system of religion—it meant full liberty of conscience , and that every one should enter the sanctuary of Ma God , and pay what he liked for the benefit be received . £ ilr . O'Connor here dwelt on the distress of the country , and pointed out in a clear and forcible manner the various causes which lead to it ] He continued ;—The Maltbusians told the working classes that over-population was the cause of their distress , and te be entirely provident they should not woo or marry till they were ninety or ninety-five years of age . If Lord John married at twenty , there were no remarks made , bnt what a sweet and amiable domestic creature he was ; and this man
was allowed to bring a family into the world , to be saddled upon the country . They weuld be all pauper * ; for the aristocracy knew that their children would be supported by the labour of others . Although 5 s . 6 d . &-week was enonghfor a handloom- weaver , £ 500 , 006 was too litUe for an aristocrat Harry Brougham had said of the working classes— " throw them on their own resources . " So said he ( Mr . O'Connor ) . He waa a Malthusian—he held the principles of Malthus ; but drew fair deductions and conclusions from them ; and it was sot fair in Brougham to cry out thus with , one side of his mouth , while with the other he said , give me . £ 5 , 000 instead of £ 4 , 000 a-year as ex-chancellor . He { Mr . O'Connor ) would have no poor in the land ; tho *
an unwilling pauper had every right to support . Throw the bishops , parsons , civil-list gentry , and snch as these on their own resources , and there wonld then be plenty for the people . ( Cheers . ) It was said the country was over-populated ; he admitted it ; but five millions would be an over population in a misgoverned country . II was said it was the intention of God there should be poor ic the land ; the parsons told the people this was but a probationary state—a living purgatory to prepare for a happier hereafter . God bad iaid the husbandman should be first partaker of the fruits of the soil ; but supposing that suffering was necessary , he thought in all conscience , the labourers had had their share , and he weuld aay to those bishops , parsons , and idlers : —
" You must , of course , strain every nerve to get into heaven—throw away your lawn sleeves , and labour with your hands ; live on porridge , go to the prisons and the cold bastQes , or labour at the spinning jenny , and the weaver ' s loom ; " but t&ey would soon cry out , tbey had quite enongh to prepare them for heaven ; and they would get to heaven it they went on that way , sooner than they expected—( load laughter ) . They ¦ sronid be like the chaplain of the vessel in a Btorm , -who asked the mate if It had in any degree subsided . The mate said it had not , and if it continued half an hour longer they would all be in heaven . " God forbid J '" exclaimed the chaplain —( loud laughter ) . It had been &aid that God sent months to one house and meat to another : that he rave as land but the devil
gave us landlords—God gave meat , but the devil Bent us cooks . The upper , classes had absorbed all themselves , and thfn thrown tbe people on their own resources . In the olden time the whole taxss of the Government were drawn from the Crown lands , and the poor were supported from the lands held by the abbeys-and monasteries , and there were also schools for the gratuitous education -of the poor , while every Bishop was bound to keep a pack of hounds for tbe um of the people in hunting . But Henry VIII . wanted to become an adulterer , wished to divorce his wife , and marry a common prostitute : the Pope would not allow him , and so be thought he would have a Reformation ; he robbed the monasteries , and destroyed tbe abbeys ; and what was done next ? A few yean after , in the
reign of his daughter , such was the increase cf poverty and crime , that it became necessary to pass tkB Poor JLair , known as the 43 rd of Elizabeth . Every source of innocent recreation was now taken from the people , and tbey were called rude and uncivilised ? they were 1 * fluced to wretchedness , and were then told they ware ignorant ; but ( Mr . O'Connor said ) if they would give him the Charter , in two years they would be the besteducated people in the world . Crime was on the increase ; but he was astonished there vas not more crime : if the aristocracy had to bear the sufferings borne by the poor , he was sure the increase would be frightful Talking of loyalty , he did not see how the working classes could be loyal to any of our present institutions ; but give every man
an inheritance in the soil—let him sit under the same tree as his father had done before him , and where the matrons of the family oft milked the « ows—let Mm be within the sound of the bells of that church where his father and mother were married , and where he himself received the baptismal rites ; let him see his own caws in the pasture , and his crops growing round Mia , and he \ roald fly with more alacrity to defend it , than an hireling army would now Ao to the cry that the iriEh Church was in danger—{ applause ) . Take away the " outward and visible signs" in tbe shape of the enormous salaries of our clergy , and the "inward and spiritual grace , " wonld vanish soon after ; take away frcm the Judge bis £ 8 , 000 a-year , and , instead of gravely prosecuting his -friend Arthur for
saying nothing , he would be vexed at him for not crying out loud enough . LbI every man : who wished for temperance join for the Gharter—every : man who wished for character , as character would be valuable under the Charter —( bear , bear )—every fnend of education , a * education would be promoted from tfee comfortable circumstances in which the Charter would place the population—every lover of peace , and if tbey wanted the people to be religious , give them tbe Charter . He took credit to himself for creating and organizing the Ghartist movement . He had spent mor « money in agitating , than any man Trho had gone before him , or any teat might come after him . The free-trado agitators epent the money of the poor , whilst he epsat O '^ iy fch otto- He had frequently acted
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as treasurer ; and in 1839 they had left him in debtte the amount of £ 282 ; he had Buffered nine criminal prosecutions in seven yeara ; yet his exertions bad been unwearied in the cause . He mimicked to the great amusement cf bis auditors ; a Dissenting Clergyman whom he said he knew , who , although a bad moral character , had spoken ata Free Trade meeting , affecting great sympathy for the distress of the poor . He trusted he had given them the worth of their pennies ( the price of admission ) , and concluded by calling upon them to take out cards of the National Charter Association , which he had brought with him , and which were twopence each . Mr . O'Connor's speech , of which the foregoing is little more than an abstract , occupied nearly two hours in the delivery . An address to Mr . O'Connor was read amidst the rapturous cheers of the meeting , and after being adopted was presented to that gentleman .
Mr . O'Connor returned thanks , and proposed a vote or thanks te the Chairman . The meeting then quietly dispersed .
DUMFRIES , VISIT OF FEARGUS O'CONNOR , ESQ . TUESDAY , OCT . 31 . So soon as it became certain that Mr . O'Connor would -visit Dumfries , the greatest enthusiasm was apparent ; and a public meeting waa summoned immediately to make arrangements for his reception . A deputation was / appointed to receive him on Us arr ival , and a committee named to secure a room fora public meeting and arrange an entertainment in the evening . The Old Assembly Rooms are at present ocenpied by a non-intrnsionist congregation , and being the largest public room in town , appeared to be the best Accordingly the Committee put themselves in communication with the managers of the church to
obtain it Ata meeting of the managers called for the special purpose , the use of tbe room was granted ; and two of the Committee signed a paper , binding them to pay the usual fees , and guarantee that no damage should be done to the building . Things had gone this far , when the shepherd , returning from the Free Church Assembly , where he had been protesting against the refusal of sites for churches by the Duke of Sutherland and others , heard that in hiB absence the principal sheep had let the fold for a Chartist meeting . Acordingly , the little Dutch-built waspish man of God called a prayer meeting . This , of course , was attended almost solely by the female part of his congregation—the ewes of the flock . After hurrying through the devotional part of tbe business , " and the doors being abut , for fear of the Jews , " the prayer meeting , by the magic wand of the Rev , John Robertson Mackensie , was converted there and then into a congregational one . By all accounts the affair was a rich one . The managers
attempted to reason ; to show that the place had been legally let , and that as honest men they must implement a bargain fairly made ; besides tbat , there would , in the event of a refusal , lie on action for damages , Bat all would not do . The parson , with a keen perception , Tike the moBt of his cloth , of tbe sort of arguments most likely to tell upon tbe ladies , declared that he cared not for the civil power—his master was God , whose law alone he would obey ! 21 After a strong diBCUSsion , is which the ewes spoke loudest , and at tbe end of which they oat-voted the rougher sex , the parson was empowered to keep the key , and do with it as tbe Lord might direct However , as no Intimation of these new arrangements had been made to the Chartist Committee , no notice was taken of the circumstance , the majority looking on the affair as a piece of bravado on the part of the parson . In this they were mistaken ; for on the Tuesday tbe creature took the key from tbe beadle , and positively refused to deliver it up ; and matters continued in that state until four o ' clock .
At half-past four Mr . O'Connor arrived , and was welcomed enthusiastically by tbe people , who crowded the High-street , many of whom had been anxiously waiting more than an hour and a-half . On being informed of the circumstances , and that the people were ready , by authority of the managers , to take forcible possession of the building , Mr . O'Connor positively refused to speak in suchacasa All was therefore gloom and despondency . Groups were collected , or moving about the streets , muttering corses load and deep on those who had caused their disappointment , and matters were rapidly assuming a threatening aspect , when the Messrs . Beck , extensive coach builders , kindly granted tbe use of their large Bhow room . Although half-an-hour after the advertised hour of meeting , the town drummer paraded the streets , and , beating with a will , soon collected a numerous audience .
Mr . WaHOBOP was called to the chair ; and , after stating the circumstances which had led to tbe change in tbe place of meeting , and Mackenzie ' s reasons for refusing the church , administered , in his own caustic manner , a sound fiaggellation to the " wee Hielandman , " and introduced Mr . O'Connor , whose rising was tbe signal for bursts of applause , load and prolonged . After the cheering had subsided , Mr . O'Connor commenced his address , which occupied about an hour and a half in the delivery , and was received with the most soul-inspiring enthusiasm on the part of tbe audience , among whom were not a few of our civic noblesse .
The meeting then , after three hearty cheers for O'Connor and tile Charter , and three for the Messrs . Beck , for their hospitality , broke up—those who wished to join the National Association alone remaining . A brisk trade then commenced in cards , and a great many enrolled themselves . Some one , on tbe recommendation of Mr . O'Connor , took out a card for his reverence , Mackenzie , to whom the { audience owed the valuable address they had jost listened to ; and it was filled up , and duly forwarded next day . At tbe close of tbe meeting Mr . O'Connor was entertained at supper in the great room of the George Temperance Hotel , from tbe oaken walls of which bung banners beariog patriotic mottoes , interspersed with thb portraits of Cobbett , Hunt , and ethers of tbat patriot band , who , thank God , have never been utterly extinct in the land .
Mr . Geoege Lewjs did tho honour of the chair , supported on the right by the guest of the evening ; and Mr . Wakdhop discharged the duties of croupier in a way which did him credit The doth removed , the Chairman rose , and instead of the preliminary toasts , termed " loyal and constitutional , " proposed in a homely bnt pleasing manner , "The People , the source of all political power . " Mr . Wabdbop , as a representation of the people , having been carried at tbe hustings last election , replied in a clever speech . The Chaib then gave— " The People ' s Charter—may it soon become the law of the land . " ( Drunk standing with three times three , and one cheer more . ) Mr . Jbeemiah Knight , a veteran Chartist , and one of the founders of the Dumfries Working Men ' s Association , responded .
The Chair—The toast which I have now to propose needs no preface to commend it to tbe hearts of all" Our respected guest , Feargus O'Connor , Esq . " ( Drunk standing , with vociferous cheering . ) Mr . O'Connor returned thanks in an able speech , in which he expressed his belief tbat the time was not far distant when democracy would triumph , and reiterated his determination to peiBeveie in the cause in which he bad embarked . At its conclusion , Mr . Peteb Hobnel , a fine looking old man , who had grown grey in the good cause , and to whom Mr . O'Conner had alluded in bis speech , rose and gave ' an account of the manner in which he bad been persecuted while struggling against the iniquities of the Scottish Poor Law
system-Mr . Wh . M'Dotvall , in a rerj neat speech , gave " Thomas Duncombe , the man of the people . " ( Drunk ¦ with all the honours ) . Mr . Wardrop gave— " Tbe Exiles . " Mr . Thomas Taylor and others , in the course of the evening , enlivened the company with many excellent songa , lilting as though " their throats with fiddlestrings were lined . " Thus the evening passed away" Care mad to see puir men sae happy , E'en drowned hersel omang the cqfee !" But the advent of the " wee short hoar ayonfc the twal " warned all tbat he , in honour of whom all bad assembled was weary and travel-worn in their service ; and accordingly , with- three cheers for O Connor , " three fcr "the Strangers , ""and a vote of thanks to the Chairman , the hannonioui assembly reluctantly broke np .
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Federalism . —Mr . Robs , M . P . for Belfast , has declared himself a Federalist Lord Morpeth goes into Parliament for the Bo * rough town of Morpeth . —Limerick Chronicle . Rent . —Lord Danally made an abatement of 15 per cant on the . rents of his estate , commencing in May last Reverse oe Fortune . —Amongst the prisoners lately brought to the Bagne of Toulon , is the ex-Bey of Tlemcen , condemned by the Court of Algiers to bard labour for life , for murder . Having surprised one of bis wives with an aide-de-major , he took vengeance on the latter , and deprived htm of life .
Males versus Females . —In the following countieB of Ed gland the number of males exceeds that of the females : —Hereford , 78 ; Lincoln . 014 ; Monmouth , 6 , 857 ; 3 utland , 140 ; Stafford , 7 , 224 ; and ia Wales—Brecon , 545 ; Flint , 697 ; Glamorgan , 4 , 550 ; Radnor , 296 . The greatest excess of females occurs in the tountyof Middlesex , where there are 1 , 333 females to every 1 , 000 males , no doubt arising from the great number of female servants in the metropolis and its BdbarbB . : \ Statistics of Marriage . —In the county of Bedford , 94 in 100 women marry under age ; in Huntingdon , 25 ; in Cambridge , 28 ; in Essex , 23 ; in Northampton , 22 ; in Hertford , 22 ; in the West Biding of Tork , 217 in the East Riding of York , 11 ; Comberland , 10 ; Westmoreland , 13 ; Devon , 9 ; Salop , 9 ; Hereford , 2 .
"Unfortunate Death op a Veteran . —An inquest "was held at the King ' s Arms , Greenwich , on the body of James Bradley , aged fifty-six , an in-peusioner of Greenwich , Hospital , and one of tbe gallant veterans of Trafalgar , who was accidentally drowned on the evening of the anniversary of " Tratalgar-day , " tit Trafalgar-stairs , having just left the Trafalgar Tavezn in ail his glory , with his Trafalgar nifcdal PU his breast Verdict—accidental death .
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EXTRA OBDIARY CORRESPONDENCE . GATCHiNa A TARTAR . O'CONN&LL ' S HEAD PACIFICATOB-THE RENOXINED < TOM SIEELE , AND PATRICK O'HIGGINS . t JirtSST ^ to y « l Repeal Association of Vtl o 'Z Wm 68 ^ ' 2 ? t & September , the case of JSb £ Z J ? " ^ forward Mr . O'Cannell £ mLi ! r £ ha ? ? at Mh <*> ° P ° ** Saving had the 8 * 8 e * h- »? m the people of
vL ^^^ M SSsari'fejsi . ss&SB Kl „>» * f P ?? »» y Stress for any of those S £ ! , ?! F ? <> n *»^ repealed . " Tbe 2 fc ££ Kh £ Vi'I *** - *** w * M& ** gainst ™ l' « nH T I , M' brin 8 ln 8 ; towatd » nch an import-SvSS ^* £ W *** V « mito ) absence it ought to bea sufficientMason ^ or expelling him with contempt . " Mr . OConneU concluded bf moving that Mr . Conner a nanie be expunged from their books . " This motion having been carried . :
Mr Steele said" that Mr . Conner ' s name should nofc ^ nly be expunged from their books , but that we ought also , as we did in the case of that Patrick OHiggins when ye expelled him , to return him his money , that our funds should not be contaminated by any such vttlanous subscriptions . " These observation . ! of Mr ; Steele ' s gave rise to the following interesting correspondence : — KB . e-HIGGINS ' S LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMAN ' S JOURNAL . t ^ ' T . * Ppearfl by * & «> * epi * t of the proceedings 0 unvti 0 ? "** atij > Bal Repeal Association of Ireland , published in this day ' s Freeman , that my name was unnecessarily and inMdiouBiy brought forward by Mr . Themas Steel a
Mr . Steele said that Mr . Conner's name should not only be expunged from their boots , but that -wa ought also , aa we did in the case of that Patrick O Hicgins , when we expelled him , return him bis money , that our funds should not be contaminated by any such villanous subscriptions . ' This is not true . The money was not returned . Bat , Sir * the money was banded by the late Mr . Edwd . Dwyer , the Secretary , to Mr . Thomas Steele , to be by him handed to Mr . O'Higgina , which ha never did . 1 have been constrained to mention this circumstance upon a former occasion ; and I have since token the trouble to examine Mr . Thomas Steele ' s schedule in tbe Insolvent Debtors' Court , where I nnd he has not returned me as a creditor . I hope that he will therefore see the propriety of discharging his trust by honestly handing me the money , even now at the end of ten yeara .
It is necessary to state , in justice to my own character , and for the information of those who know nothing of the circumstance to which Mr . Steele has alluded , tbat I was expelled from the society of Irish Volunteers ia January , 1833 , because I refused to act on the Committee of that body with a friend pf Mr . Thomas Steele ' fl , —a man who was mainly instrumental in swindling me oat of a sum of £ 750 , and Who acted in the capacity of common Informer ; Vftiose Intoiina , * tions are filed ia the Heed . Office of Police , and dated tbe 5 th of January , 1831 .
I now , in conclusion , utterly deny that a charge of any nature or kind waa ever brought against me either in tbe Volunteer Association , or in any other Association <* r Society , while at the : same time I admit the expulsion and demand of Mr . Thomas Steele , OConneU ' 8 Head Pacificator , to state distinctly and unequivocally tbe cause of my expulsion—the names , residences , and occupations of the patties concerned in that disgraceful transaction ; the name of bin friend against whom I waa forced to proceed with the charges ; tbe nature of those charges , and the written evidence by which they were sustained . Patrick O'Higgins . No . 14 , North-Ann-Street , September 28 , 1843 .
TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMAN . Loyal National Repeal Association , ' . Com Exchange Rooms , Sept . 30 , 1843 . MY DEAR SIR , —A letter appeared in the Freeman ' s Journal of this morning , signed " Patriek O'Higgina , " containing an infamous and highly characteristic lie . He says that when he was some years ago expelled ia these rooms by a vote of your committee , and his money ordered to be returned to him , it was given to me by our then secretory , my lamented friend , the late Edward Dwyer , and that I did not return it , , We expelled Patrick O'Higgins for infamous lying and calumny ; and therefore his invention of this lie and of the series of lies and calumnies he is in the habit of publishing in the Northern Star , is of course in him quite natural .
If Mr . Dwyer had proposed to make me the medium of bis official communication with that branded scoundrel , I would have deemed it a personal insult , which I would nave indignantly resented ; but Mr . Dwyer respected me too highly to try to make me the medium of a communication with such a wretch . The opinion expressed this morning to me by my friend Mr . Frank Dwyer , the son of our late secretary , and who knows all the transactions , ia "thathe has the same contempt for Patrick O'Higgins that he has for • * I nave toe honour te bo , my dear Sir , Moat truly yours , Thomas Steeie . P S . —j , of course will not condescend to notfee anything further from this degraded person . TO THE EDITOR OF THE FREEMAN ' S JOURNAL .
Sir , —I perceive , by your paper of this day , that Mr . Thomas Steele , instead of answering any of the questions in my letter of Saturday last , or handing me the money which he said on the previous Wednesday was returned 1 to me , but which he now says was ordered to be returned , he has had recourse to bis usual low Billinsgate . This Head Pacificator saya , in reply to my demand npon him for the money : — « ' 1 st That Patrick O'Hicrgins' letter contains a highly characteristic and infamous lie . " 2 ndly . That we expelled Patrick O'Higgina for infamous lying and calumny . " 3 tdly . That he is in the habit of publishing lies and calumnies in the NorOiem Star .
<¦ 4 thly . That he ( honest Tom Sceele ) could hold no communication with such a branded scoundrel as Patrick O'Higgins ; tbat the late Mr . Edward Dwyer would not insult him , by making him the medium of any communication with such a wretch ; and that Mr . Frank Dwyer , the son of Mr . Edward Dwyer , told him ( Mr . Tom Steele ) tbat he has as great a contempt for Patrick O'Higgina as he has for a convicted felon . ; " 6 thly . That the Committee , some years ago , when Patrick Q'Higgius was expelled , ordered his money to be returned .
Tha " Head Pacificator , " Mr . Thomas Steele , has , through the columns of the Dublin Evening Post , published the foregoing libel upon my character , by way of answer to a demand which . I made upon him , iD ^ the Freeman ' s Journal of Saturday last , for a sum of money which he . said , at a public meeting , on tbe previous Wednesday , was returned to me . No one but Tom Steele ever said , or presumed to say , that this money waa returned to me . In reply to my demand npon Mr . Tom Steele for the money , he answers that demand by calling me a calumniator , an habitual lior , and a slanderer ; and says that I was expelled for lying—that I am a branded scoundrel and a wretch ; and he gets Mr . Frank Dwyer to confirm all this , by declaring that he has as great a contempt for me as he has for a convicted felon .
This is no unusual mode for Mr . Thomas Steele , the Head Pacificator , to adopt towards those who demand their money of him—money which he knows more about than the owner of it , bat no more than the possessor . I was not meddling with Tom Steele when he wantonly an 5 wickedly dragged my name forward at the Corn Exchange , on Wednesday last , in a debate with which I had no connection whatever . He said , npon that occasion , that " the subscription should be returned to Mr . Connor , as they did to that Patrick O'Higgias , when he expelled him and returned him his money , that our funds should not be contaminated by tmch a villanous subscription . " When this lie about returning tbe money was flatly and indignantly contradicted , Mr . Thomas Steele had recourse , in the flrt instance , to the columns of tbe Dublin Evening Post to publish a groaa libel upon my character instead of paying me the money .
Now , Mr . Tom Steele , Ireland ' s Head Pacificator , at a salary of four pounds a week out of the Repeal Rent , you said at the Coin-Exchange , when you thought it might pass unuoiiced by uie , " that the money ivas returned to me ; " but wheu you found that I did not allow this falsehood to pass , you then shifted your ground and said that the money was ordered to bo returned .: Here , on your own ; showing , you stand & Belf-convicted liar . Finding that you put your head into a mottar , and gave me a pestle to pound it , you have had zeeourse to calumny and falsehood in order to wriggle out olf it .
I called npon you er any one else , in my laU 6 « in the Freeman of Saturday last , ; to state distinctly the charges which yon allege veeie brought against meat the time of my expulsion from the Volunteer Association in January , ; 1833 , and to publish the names , occupations , and residences of the parties concerned in that disgraceful transaction—instead of which , or of handing me the money 'which , you . aaid 'waa returned to me , and which you undertook to return , notwithstanding your audacions denial , you say that I was expelled " FOB Infamous Lying and Calumny . " Now , i you barefaced , cowardly calumniator—yon mean , filthy , foul-mouthed , fawning sycophant ; you knew , when you were penning the foregoing words , tbat there never v ? a 3 n charge of any nature or kind brought ucftinst me , either in the Volunteer Association or in any ; other Association or Society ; but that I was expelled-
—1 st Because I knew the exact nature and . extent of tbe transactions between you and your friencla , Wigly , Dixon , and Co ., and your dupe , O'GKbrman Mshon ; and because I bad the inipmtience to mention aomoof the circumstances coaneot&d wHii those transactions ; and
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because x t was not deemed prudent to have a man npon the Committee of tbe Irish Volunteers , who , it was apprehended -from the case lie had made oat against yon , Sympathised with ; O'Gorman Mahon , who- was got rid of by a moat dexterous trick a few days before . 2 &dly . Because by fa rule of the Association , which made it imperative upon every member to sate anything he Icnew derogatory to the character of another , on pain of being Expelled himself , and by a resolution of the committee , calling upon me to state the charges forthwith , I was forced to proceed with them against your friend , which , when found to be true , were declared to be false'and calumnious , ia order to screen your friend , a sycophant like yourself , from the consequences ol them . j
You and the other parties knew fall well , and yon now know , that the charges which you pronounced to be " false and calumnious , " did not depend for their truth or falsehood upon any testimony ef mine , but depended entirely and exclusively upon the written testimony of the following respectable gentlemen : — Mr . Robert Cully , Accountant-General of the Bank of Ireland ; Mr . Michael Roach , Secretary to the Hibernian Banking Company ; Messrs . Obadiah WQlans and Sons , Lower Bridge-street ; Robert Byrne and Co ., Lower Bridge-street ; j Armstrong and Byrne , Merchant's Quay ; Blood , Not , and Co ., Trinity-street ; William Lock , Linen Hall ; Qreenough and Robinson , Manchester ; William Boltonabd Co ., Manchester ; Longworth and Co ., Manchester ; and the oral testimony of Messrs . John Robinson , of Dalgany ; William Russell , of Lower Bridge-street ; John Hudson , of Mccklmburgh-street ; and Alexander Reynolds , of Lower Bridge-street
Now , you cowardly , ] runaway slanderer—you strolling , houseless vagabond—you and the rest of the gang mnst prove that all these names are forged to the documents in my possession before you can prove that I brought false charges against any man . I now , in conclusion , hurl defiance , and court the hatred of yon and the other cowardly calumniators who , in the teeth ef the foregoing testimony , signed a public document against me , pronouncing the charges false and calumnious . ¦ j Patrick O'Higgins . No . 11 , North Anne-street , Oct . 3 , 1813 . To Robert Coll * , i Esq ., Accountant-general of the Bank of'Ireland , Michael Roach , Esq ., Secretary to the Hibernian Banking compant , and the other several gentlemen named in the Letter sighed Patrick O'Higgin 3 , published this horning in the free-MAN'S Journal , i
Wednesday , October 4 , 1843 . Gentlemen , —A letter , signed Patrick O'Higgins , having appeared in thelFreevtan ' s Journal of this morning , in which he has introduced your names , aa if his witnesses in sustainment of his false allegations , as I cannot , of course , deign to take notice of that person myself , I address myself to you . ! In the spirit , therefore , and in terms of the most perfect personal respect , Ii pray your permission to submit to your consideration whether you do not owe it to yoat own * characters , as well as to the cause of moral justice , publicly to disavow your having given him your sanction and authority to use your names aa his witnessea on this occasion , to substantiate his false dtatementa . i
Our Committee , of which there was a very full attendance , sat for several ' days in solemn investigation of charges brought by this Patrick O'Higgins against another of our niembera , and those charges , in that solemn investigation , were found to be falsehoods and calumniea so nefarious that we nnanimouBly passed a vote for bis immediate expulsion , and for returning him his pound subscription . j I have no doubt whatever tbat it was punctually and immediately returned to him by our then Secretary , Mr . Edward Dwyer , whose regularity waa ever perfect in the performance of Mb official duties . I , of coarse , utterly disclaim all right to Te quire from you a reply to this letter : I only make ray appeal to your courtesy and sense of justice as Irish gentlemen . ¦ I have tbe honour to be , Gentlemen , ' With great respect . Tour most obedient , bumble servant , 1 Thomas Steele .
TO THOMAS STEELE , . [ ESQ ., HEAD PACIFICATOR OF
IRELAND . Sir , —You shall not ; escape from me so easily as you imagine . You struck a cowardly biow behind my bock , and you tan away ! when yon find that that blow can be returned with-interest . Your letter in this day's Freeman- proves ¦ you to be one of tha basest scoundrels that ever disgraced society . Your attempt to intimidate , bully , corrupt , and c&jole the respectable gentlemen whose namea are signed to tbe documents in my possession , surpasses by far the moat iniquitoas act of even the worst of Shakespeare's bloodiest and most cowardly villains . ! But you have one consolation ; yon are a fair sample of the gang who in the teeth of those documents , pronounced the charges , which were sustained by their testimony , to be false and calumnious . To be sure your friend , whose name I have forborne to mention out of a feeling of delicacy which neither Tom nor he can appreciate , is just a fit and proper companion for yourself and you associates in calumny , lying , and delusion .
The question between ua in not as to whether I bad the authority of those gentlemen to publish their names now ; bat the question is whether tho names to the documents in my possession are genuine or forgeries ; and whether you and the other calumniators , whose namea are affixed to the public calumny upon my character , pronounced and signed by you and them in the teeth of that evidence , ; has given , to their own act , the brand of infamy and degradation which they sought to fix upon me . There is no man of common senBe who is aware of their atrocious conduct upon that occasion could any more trust one of them than he could trust
the basest perjurer that ever disgraced the earth . I tell you now , as I told you and them , then , that in my opinion there ia not a man of you who signed that document against me , which yon have so audaciously paraded , who would not , if it prompted his own interest , if it gained one political step for him , stab to the heart the priest that administered the sacrament to him . I called upon yon to publish the names , residences , and occupations of those parties . I called upon you to pay me the money which you said at first was paid ; second , that it was ordered to be paid , and now you say that you are sure it waa paid by Mr . Dwyer . j .
The money was not paid to me by Mr . Dwyer or any . one else . The sum is not one pound , but ten pounds . Mr . D « vyer , in the first instance , offered me one pound , which I refused to accept vrithuat the other nine . I call upon you now , again , to pay me the money You are the only mr . a that ever said it was paid . Let there be no more shuffling about it Screw yourself up , for the first time in your life , to one act of moral courage ; acknowledge your error , or mistake , or whatever else you please to eall it , and pay me the money . You have the Repeal funds at your back , and can therefore afford to bribe the Liberal Press to publish yonr abusive &sd lying tirades against my character , and reject my answers , unlesa 1 pair down and mutilate them to & mere *• dear and good Sir , sure I dorit deserve all these blows . " i . ' Patrick O'Higgins . No , 14 , North-Anne-Street , October 5 , 1813 . j
P . S . I met Air . John Hudson , one of those respectable gentlemen whose names I published , and whom Mr . Thomas Steele calls upon to disown their own act ; and he desired me toj aay that his address Is No . 64 , York-stieet When Mr . Steele ia on his perambulation amongst these gentlemen , let him not pass Mr . Hudson by . i Since sending the above rejected letter to the Freeman's Journal , I have 'received a most interesting account of Mr . Steele ' s conduct towards a fair friend in Ennis . I . P- OU . [ This " correspondence" we have had waiting insertion for several weeks ; but the urgent claims upon our space , by the exciting occurrences in Ireland and WaleB , prevented its appearance before the preaentO
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English Hob $ es .--f- Tbe Grand Duke Michel ia buying np a number of the best English heraea for exportation to Russia . I RENT . ~ WilUam Fletcher , Esq ., ha * given an abatement ( through his agent , William P . Fletcher , Esq ., Foster-place , ) of twenty-five per cent , on the last " three half year's rent ! ' to his tenants on hia estate &i Clane , county Kildare . J Mr . Fletcher 1 b son of the late Judge Fletcher . ) . . Awful !—There are now living m Axmmsfcer sixtytwo unmarried ladies , and , awful to relate , only seventeen gentlemen to be divided amengst . them . Salamanders . —The ; Revue de O'tuest says : — " Several person were witnesses a fow days ago of an ext » aordinary circumstance . 1 The road from Niort to Sf , Lignaire was covered with thousands of little salamy a ders ; it presented one | block mass , and it was imp Os aible to move a step -without treading upon sevestf . 0 these reptiles . " j ¦
Degradin g Superstition—On Friday , last & young woman named WinefieJd , -who tad been , on * i ^ ft ^ Derby , returned home tc > Redborne , taking a , S ? ; tl& doj ¦ with her in a etring ; and . on arriving , tf ieie , ahi informed her friends that aha had seeaagj ^ r j vroauu on the Eoad , who told her that if she led * ' dog bj the fitting into the house , she wouldfea a . ** tps 6 withu twelve hours . Singular to relate , tha y jung womai died on the following [ morningI Va fe aupposed efci died from the effects of imagtagion , t& . edby adebili tated constitution .
Atrocious MORDER- ^ An ,, afe » oc 4 ar * crime has jua filled with dismay the town flf Bac » e-le-Chatean . Oi Thursday laat a amaUj farming , BM tn , named Godean seventy years of age , and almost bg ' ad , was left at horn while the rest of the persons of . Or , house were in th fields getting in their jpotatoe * Whea these peopl returned home in the evenings frightful spectacle pre aented itself to their view , ¥ a& unfortunate old mai lying on the floor horribly nv jrdered , his head cut , o rather Bawn off . Three boar . es had been broken open and the mutdeteta—for . my re than one muSt have bee concerned in the foul de $ ' _ j laa catrie ( j off the whole C tbe contents , consisting of money , MticleB of v / earin apparel , and , other j ? H ^ erfcy ,
Trial By Joky
TRIAL BY JOKY
On Monday evening the friends o ! Parliamentary Re '^ rm dined together at Ratlley's Hotel , Bridge-street , Riaefcfriars ; to celebrate the 49 feh anniversary" of ihe ac « quittai of Thomas Hardy , John Home Tooke , and Thoa . Thel wall , from the charge of high treason . W . J . FoX , Esq . in the chair . < About 150 gentlemen eat down to dinner . Among those around the chair were Richard Taylor , Alexander Galloway . Colonel Perronet Thompson , P . A . Taylor , J . Coppoek , J . P . Barnard , W . P / itchard , W . Hodgson , W . Patten , Dr . Simpson , J ) . Incs , J . Gnrney , A . B » Gfarey , C , Horsley , E ? qrn ., fee . ic . ' When the cloth was rem " > ved , The Chairman rose to propose the first toast . He said they were met there for the forty-ninth time to
commemorate the very remarkable circumstance that parties who asserted sound and jasb principles ^ with s view to their practical . application were not hanged ; and he rejoiced to find aronnd him not a few of those who he felt confident would have acted jast the same , even had the result'Which they now met to commemorate been different Tbe principles which brought the namea of twelve acquitted felons , as they were decently termed in the House of Commons , into jeopardy , and in which those who now beard him no doubt agreed , were the principlea which formed the foundation of social existence—which distinguished a nation from a mobr—which characterised a people as diBtinct frost a heid of slaves—the sovereignty of the people—( tremendous cheers ) . The sovereignty of the people he understood to be tho exercise of real power » by tho
people , what bad bees called virtual representation , which was pretty mack what had been humorously described aa the condition of tbe deer in Sherwood forest , which were looked npon as nw ' . e for Robin . Hood to feast upon . ( Cheers . ) Representation , to be teal , must be co-extensive with the community—{ hear )—in other words , he meant ; what was expressed by the plain terms Universal Suffrage —( hear , hear )—the principles of the " Corresponding Society "—( cheers )—the sound and intelligent principles of all political freedom . If sovereignty were not in the people be should litre to know were it was . Was it in th « aristocracy ? Could they reckon on higher genealogy than that of the people ? No ; not in their genealogies could tbey claim a higher origin . They might quote as their text the epitaph which bad been written for himself by the
poet" Noble and gentle , by your leave , Here lie tbe bones of Matthew Prior ; A son ef Adam and of Eve—Can Bourbon or Nassau go higher ?" After some farther observations , the Chairman gave the " Sovereignty of the People . ''—Received with three times three . The Chairman then proceeded to spoil what he had just said by some nonsensical talk about tha " illostriius individual who now occupied the throne , " ending with the usual bit of humbug . The CHAiBHAifnext gave— " Trial by Jary , and the three J cries Which acquitted Thomas Hardy , JotJO Home Tooke , and John Thelwall . " The toast was received with enthusiastic applause .
Tbe Chairman , after speaking at some length on the principlea of the Corresponding Society , proceeded to its persecuted members : What were the men who were thus persecuted ? They could not know a man of higher principles , of simpler mind , and of more straightforward character—¦ whose private life was more pure , or whose public life waa more honest , than that of John Hardy —( cheers ) . In the ranks of literary men , who bad endeavoured to develops thei truth , to trace the various appearances of physical phenomena , and to study the literary institutions of byegone ages , with an acuter mind than John Home Tooke ? or who so clearly bad displayed the beauty , the variety , and the real utility of the English language , and had led so many to sound and lucid thoughts , who would otherwise have
been lost in the interminable desert of verbiage ? Among those who delighted the imagination and painted truth in those vivid colours which ; seized the attention of the reader , and whose works Btili produced in the dramatic scene atiil rivalled bis contemporaries , who was more eminent at the time , and who bad left more enduring claims upon us , than Thomas Holcroft , the author of the Road to . Ruin ?—( cheers ) . There waa amongst them Thelwall , whom many had listened to aa the expounder of ancient and modern history , and who was the , teacher of oratory and location , and was afterwards employed to teach , the clergy to read with Impressivenesa that burial service , which would too willingly have been denied to him . Jeremy Joyce escaped the gallows , to carry his conquests into the French Institute . If the lawyer and the Minister of tbat day had been triumphant , history wonld have ' backed the remarkable fact , tbafc at a , time when the power of France sought to
overwhelm Europe , Jeremiah Jeyce waa teaching the students of the Polytechnic School under the direction of Napoleon , training thought there , and winning a nobler triumph than hia students afterwards acquired in arms—( Vorid cheers ) . Those men were chosen by William Pitt as the first sacrifices , because they advocated the principled from which he had apostatised—( loud cheers ) . A jury decided between . them ; posterity will decide between them ; nature and fact have decided between them ; for those objects of bis persecution nave led peaceful , and some of them , long lives . Tbey saw the opinions they advooated advancing in publie opinion ; some remained to witness the success of some of thoir opinions , and to feel the joyful and certain presage of the advancing victory It bad been usual to drink this toast in solemn silence ; be would not so propose it , for whatever mourning might have been over a grave which had recently closed , be wonld say with Byron in his " Hebrew Melodies , " when celebrating the hero
Maccabeus" Their name our charging hosts along Shall be our battle word , We will not do their memories wrong , They shall not be deplored "—( cheers ) . Their memory was not to be deplored—they rather rejoiced that they bad lived . The Chairman concluded by proposing— "Tbe Members of the Corresponding Society . " Mr . Galloway said they had present that evening be was proud to aay , an individual who was ninetyeeven yeara old { Mr . W . Hodgson ) , who had been ever the steady friend of liberty , and who , fifty-one years ago , had been confined in Newgate for sedition—( hear , bear ) . He had now the same spirit and courage in the cause of freedom that be had fifty-one years ago .
Mr . Hodgson , who , though be stooped , appeared remarkably bale and strong tor a man of oineiy-seven yeara , said that he held tbe same opinions now that be did fifty-one yearB ago . Laws ought to be made for the benefit of the many ; but , at tbe present day , they -were made so complicated tbat they could not be understood . The venerable speaker next adverted to tho necessity of the people who contributed to the expense of the Government having & voice in its management The aged speaker sat down amidst enthusiastic applause . Several other toasts were given , and the company separated at an early hour . "Young Dutch Sam , " the -well-kno-wn pugilist , died a few days since at hia residence , the Drury Tavern Bridges-street , Covent Garden .
Mopsters . —Anthony Grimes and Patt Kilroy are committed to Castlebar gaol , on a charge of having broken into the house of Honor Gitroy , in the barony of Erris , by night , forciby taken her daughter away a distance of twelve miles , and violated her person . Calamitous Occurrence . —The Public Works at Banagher under the Shannon Commissioners are nearly suspended in consequence of the dams being awep * away by a high flood , and three hundred men are thrown out of employ . Their Fortunes Told . —At Longford Quarter
Sessions , a gang of itinerant fortune tellers wa * sentenced to transportation for seven years . While predicting fortnnes it appeared they were realizing fortune * at the expence of their credulous dupes . Assault , &c . —Seven conntryniea were tried at Band&n Quarter Sessions for riot and assault upon th Rev . Charles H . Seymour , when , returning from ^ T > iyinia Service at Ardgsoon Chusch , on the Sabbath ; and he only escaped death by the fleatness of hia horse . Oft convietion of the outrage , four were sentenced , by asr sisfcant-Barristet Moody , to two years imprisonment each , and tha others , to nine months .
" Fat Kiil . " —In . the attack on the fort of Goyain , by General Nott , daring the last campaign et ^ ne A&Vaan war , an Irish sergeant of her Majesty ' s 40 tb . had . hia head gnssd by & spent ball . It ; confused him for the moment , and he exclaimed , " Och I Somebody ta ' ae my pieee ? I ' m kilt—I ' m kilt—I ^ kilt . ? ; Aa V aey -were leading him off , he looked over his Bho ^ Per , and cried out , " F&ftfe , boya , an * I dorftitiinki ' ni fcift entirely yet ! " His second thought called forth shouts of laughter—Allen ' s Diary . PHYsiGLOGT .- ^ -It is an admitted axiom among physiologists , that to th& peculiar formation of tho cerebral organs , the mental faculties owe thair character . Nor ia it less confidently asserted , that the influence of these peculiarities is in a striking jdegr . ee
hereditary , as 8 . hown ill-tlje descendants of such as have exhibited any peouliai ?^^ property la doBheciion witlr these higWy important functions . These truths sure in a far moice iibviougi chaKibtfsr , manifest in the pby-Bicalsttttoiare of ' tlhei tinman race , and exhibit them-Belye ? to the wotli ^ aUyi for , as iitve » etable , so ;| a animal lifei : the shoot invariably partakes of ; tae vigour ordfelicaey of the parent stem . To s « s * f ©* lerinvigorate thd physioal powers of the body , by enabling the nalni *! Streams of vitality to flow on , their cburpe without obstacle , must be an object of areat imriortandfe . a 3-it is fobyious that any
interference therewith , must toBtich an extent divert them from their legitimate purpoae , * ad ; so ; depnyethe system of a portion of Us na « uiaV 8 nport , thus enfeebling if not prostrating its energies * and - St rendering it nnable to fulfil us Tinted duties . T « a | both Phylioal and mental vigour may be maintained for an extraordinary duration of time , we have many evidences on record , and that the means of acoom-Dlishiue this object are now withm our teaobftne Ey ^ Alar Proofs of the power of the P « Bcn £ «> ru as mado up by < , ) Id Thomas Parr . w a guarantee ^ sue value as should not be lost sight of without mature reflection .
Untitled Article
* r . . ^ THE NORTHERN STAR 5 j f
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 11, 1843, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct827/page/7/
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