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THE ] S T OETHEil]N T STAfv. SATURDAY, APRIL 17, 1841.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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N ABLATIVE OP aSZTCHEIi , THE mUSSHB . ES . ; AS RELATED BY HIMSELF . I am the son of George and Hannah Jtitahell , of Shamble-street , Barnsley , in the West Riding of the county of York . I was born at . Barnsley on the 12 : h of November , 1624 , and am , consequently , nuw but just turned 17 years of age . 1 am one of fifteen children , though not all by the same mother , as my father was married twice . I have three brothers and eight sisters now living . Two of my brothers are marrisd , and living at , or near Barnsley , and both are steady and respectable characters —would to God that I had followed their worthy example , and my tender and virtuous parents ' advice > My brothers are both masons . Two of my sisters are married , the rest are residing with tneir
parents ; and , although I have beeu unfortunate , I mean to say that there is not-a better conducted famuy , of a poor man ' s family , in Yorkshire . My parents removed to York when I was four years o ! d , as my father found it 'difficult , in his way of business , that of a bricklayer , to get work in Barasiey . He cams to the citj ; to work under his bro' . her , a master bricklayer , who still resides in York , and bears a mos ; upright and honest caarac : er . We lived at No . 1 , Hope-streef , for about three years and a half . Daring the whole of that period I attended a Quaker ' s School in the neighbourhood of our residence . I" acquired a knowledge of readiag and spelling , but not of writing , at tha - place of instruction . At the end of that time my
parents returned to Barnsley , and I was then put out to a day school , kept by ' a Mr , Knight , but I remained there only three or four weeks , being turned away from the school by the master foT bad conduct ; and this , as far as I can recollect , is the first act which has led to my unfortunate notoriety . One day , before 1 was tvrelve years of age , I was Strolling about the neighbourhood of Barnsley , when I chanced to meet with & man who aeked me ¦ where 1 was going . I told him I did not know , but that I wanted something to eat . The man said that if I vrould go with him to a public-house he would give me plenty both to eat and to drink—I followed the man , when he told me that I should have nothing to do bu : to eat and drink as much as I liked if I would only stav with him .
I saw that the man was a gipsy , and at the public-house I got so drunk that the gipsy bad to take me away in his arms . I fell fast asleep , aad , upon W 3 king , I found myself in bed , under a camp , in a lane . Next morning I saw three little children with them , about three or four years eld . The gipsie 3 told me that 1 was to do whatever they ordered ms to do . The party consisted of four men , four women , three children , and myself , so that we were twelve in all . 2 wis Srss employed in stealing gra = 3 out of the fields to feed their horses ; that was what I commenced with . They divided , during the dsv , into three parties , and went about the country ' ; they always returned at night , and they never came back
without & quantity of provisions with them , such as large pieces of beef and mutton . When I had been engaged for about three weeks in stealing grass for the horses , they took ma with them to sell pots and glass among the farm-houses and at vi lagts . When I was sent by myself upon these occasions , my instructions were to steal as many geese , ducks , and fowls , and things of all son ? , as I could possibly lay hold of , ¦ while I was going abons selling pots . My plan was to throw a heavy stick at them , and so disable them , and afterwards plsce them in tLe panniers on the ass which was laden with pots . I placed them under the pots . I was expected to bring home three or foar fowls , at least , every night , and if I fell short of tbat number , I was much grumbled at and found fault with ; bnj I generally contrived to keep them in good
humour on that score , as I was always particularly attentive and successful . My living , in fact , altogether depended upon-my sucetss in thieving , because if I brought nothing home to the camp a ; night , I should beg , stesl , or starve , a 3 they made it an invariable rule never te give me a morsel upon nights that I returned empty-handed ; ' and there is the greatest dificolty in avoiding detection , as , when a chap kr . ow 3 that he is to get nothing to eat if he brings nothing , if he is imprudent , he -prill be apt , towards eveniig , to run risks and chances , rather than go to bed . hungry . But I had , even when I was hungry , after a l « ng day's tramp , always the fearof bringing disgrace on my parents and family , if I was found out ; and many and many is the time that that very feeling has made me prefer a hungry belly to the chance of iajaring ay dear parents .
The pot selling was but a mere cover for thieving without being suspected , but I did occasionally sell and always obtained good prices . Besides fowls , 1 was expected to bring home anything that came in my way , such as little pig ? , a lamb , or a she ? p , if dark , and that I had nutinDg else and we were iu a , lone place and slack of provisions . ^ Nothing came amiss to them , however it was procured , and 1 believe that the value of anything was vLry ranch increased by the danger that we ran in stealing it .
At nignt , when it was quite dark , bat never before , the whole force of us , " that is the men and myself , used to start out upon a Tegular system of plunder . When we were near a market town and pet a person , whether walking or on horseback , we inrariailv stopped him aad robbed him of everything he had . We took care never to be less than three t-o ^ ether , and wa always had pistols , knives , hand-staves , and bayonets at the end of the pistols —in shor :, we could not be better armed , and were always ready , while the weight of our arms , in case of surprise , did no ; , in the least , impede our retreat . TVealrraj's ms . de for & lonely place , and would scamper across the fields , and along ianes and roads , in view of a person on a good horse , till we dogged him to some lonely place , and then we met him and robbed him . 1 have never known one to escape .
Though I never taw a man shot by any of the j party , yet I havs frequently seen men severely hurt by my companions , and left on the road for dead . '• ¦ They used to stab them with knives and bayonets ! and strike them with their staves , but they were rery captious of firing , for fear of giving alarm , and ¦ were very particular in never committing any depredations near the camp , where the women and children were . . I The exactness with which th » y found the way on j dark nights to strange encampments , in a lone coun- ; try , struck me as being very curious ; bat I found i out that iney used , at first , to hold horses and donkeys grazing on the road side , for a f « w days after they took np a new position , and thus became acquainted with all the lanes , cross-roads , and lone nouses in the neighbourhood .
Being so light and nimble , I was always employed in picking the pockets of those we ro ' bbed , while they were on the ground , or as best I could manage to gei at them . These robberies , upon a large scale , took place generally about once or twice a week , and the amount of money stolen was considerable . I have known £ 150 to be got upon one occasion , never more than that , and the sum thu 3 obtained varied in amount from £ 100 to £ 50 , £ 40 , £ 5 , and down to £ 1 , jost according to what the person happened to have about him ; for we alway 3 got all , and some of his clothes , if they were worrh having .
I have never , in any instance , known them fail of bringing home some cash , stolen in the manner I have described , from persons coming home from market . I have many times seen persons so attacked , hurt and wounded to tha ; degree , that I thought they were } e . 'E for dead . I cannot say whether or no ; any of them actually died . Sometimes a regular resistance woald take place and a fight would follow , then my companions always used their weapons withoa ; mercy , and struck withont any heed or cue of the consequences .
The master of the gipsies we always called by the name of •¦ Dick Ssllers . " There was another mm among them we called " Brummagem Jack . " The women cohabited with the men ; they also went out hawking pots , as I did , and returned home some With fowls and other booty , like myself . The three little boys , who I often thought wsre stolen , though I never knew u for a positive fact , " used to be empkyed m collecting sticks to kindle the fire with . They used ro ba very cheerful , for the men and women took care always to giFethem plenty to eat , sweets , and fruits , and everything that was nice and
They never remained more thaa a week in one place , and when we remored we went about ten or fifteen miles , or sometimes twenty miles off , and then invariably began at the same kind of plunder thai we had just left . The men used often to bring Stolen hones home at night , which they could so disguise that it was quite impossible for any ons to kuoiv his own . They used to fire them , clip them , bore a hole throagh their ears , shorten and pail then tails , hog their manes , and disfigure them by or ' nei contrivances , so that a man would bay Mb own horse without ever suspecting him . to be the same . These horses they would take oat of the fielda at dark , mod zext morning , very early , at three or four o ' clock , they would take them to the next fair or market , and dispose of them as early as possible . I never knew any of them to be taken up , or suspected oi itealing horses , or anyt&ing else , although stealing Was their regular trade . We have often had as many as seven good horses and ume donkeys at once , and all stolen *
Hie mea would sometime * blacken their faces , and disguise themselves in other and various ways , so tbat ftp eotqpgt ever know them again . One man ef th « p * $ f jjwrm regular blackamoor . They « tfH |* had plenty of money - , and ssed to pe&dti wry freely when in town . I hare every reason toctknfc ;» ai they frequently robbed geitlemm ' a hones if pUte and other valuable articles , as I h * ra « fiea kmown them to ekinge such like article * for glass , china , pots , and other things , as * oorer for tnSo ; but wheretbey got them I could ¦ 0 * fQ * " ^ ** I oppose they were afrai d to take inexpeCMMM persons to rob houses , for feai of bekg
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detected if the alarm was given , and all were not able to retreat . The women were all evidently loose girls that had been on the town , and it never once struck me that they could be the mothers of the three children I have before alluded to , because the children appeared to be much better bred up than the women , and had signs of respectability in their usual talk , mode of address , fee , so that I never bad a doubt but they were the children of respectable parents , stolen , or enticed from their families by the women when strolling about the lanes and paths in lonely parts of the country ; which may be very easily done by taking them from servant girls , the one stealing the
child while the servant is having her fortune told in a lone bye-way , by the other , of which , and by which means , they make much money , and get a great deal of information about the neighbourhood . No one will believe how resolntely these gipsy women will stick to a point , and how stealthy and cunning they go about anything they have a mind for . When they are seemingly apart , yet two or three are always in sight of eaoh other , and as they are less suspected than other people , from their dres 3 and their forwardness in coming towards you , instead of turning away when they are seen , it makes them very bold . They always appear to be doing something , and always have something to sell .
1 have frequently pitied the poor little children , and often wondered what their parents musl feel for their loss . Indeed , I wanted one of them to go with me , when I wa 3 about leaving my gang to join another party of gipsies , but as he would not come , I put off going also . It was & very common thing to Bee them come to the camp at night with a heifer or a oow ; they would burn letters on them for a disguise , and take them to the nearest market next morning for sale , same as the horses , also Bneep aud calves ; but we did most business in horses and beasts , as they travelled best .
We went in various direction about the country ; at one time we were within thirty miles of London , and onr farthest trip to the north was within about twenty miles to the north of York . We were alsd in the neighbourhoods of Manchester and Liverpool , frequently where we did a great deal of business in the way of thieving ; but our best trade was in the neighbourhood of Birmingham , as we found , in that town , a much readier quit for our stolen articles . At Birmingham , a thief may sell or exchange anything with safety .
In thi 3 way I spent about two years , in picking pockets , Btealing and thieving everything I could lay my hands upon , killing fowls , and , in short , committing plunder in any way that opportunity offered . All that I received for this was my actual support among them , and that according to my activity and service . As to clothing , I was fitted out just like all the rest , aud upon the tame terms , with the cloth that we used to steal from the cloth hawkers in country towns . So it was with our blankets and everything elae in the way of clothing
or covering . In summer time the men would sleep at a publichouse , or at the most respectable inn in a town , for they were well dressed , and would pass for respectable footmen , servant ? , chaise-boys out of place , or varions other businesses , which made the people not suspect them . Those houses they invariably robbed of everything they could lay their hands upon , and , if met by the inmates , next day , they never would know them . Iu the winter we all camped together , and the men and myself went out prowling all night long . ( To be continued Xn our next )
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THE YuUA ' G LIAR OF THE NORTH . It is now twenty years or more since the immortal CtBBi . iT so appropriately christened our fallacious neighbour " The Great Liar of the North ;" and , as ill weeds grow apace , we had every right to expect some produce from the parent stock . We knew that the Leeds " Neddy , " and the Manchester " Flanders mare , could not remain so long within reach of each other without producing a jeunet of some sort or other . We are now happy to tell the naturalist that our hopes have been realized in the full development of its ancestral propensities ! by a little dirty brat yelep'd The Anti-Corn Law Circular . Indeed , if our friend doesn ' t look sharp , the child will beat it 3 papa .
It is not only a shame , but a sin to " spare the rod and spoil the child ; " and , in truth , we take no small blame to ourselves for not having sooner chastised the little reprobate . In its musty tale of last week , the Young Liar of the North" chatters something about Chartist leaders being hired by the bread-taxers , which , no doubt , the bread-eater had heard his parents , or guardian ? , or nursemaids talking about . See , then , how foolish to talk before children . The little rascal patches up a laino Etory from the evidence of another Patcbe , who was examined before a
Committee of the House of Commons , upon the Walsall election , with reference to the slovenly manner in which the tvro late honourable candidates bribed , and committed sundry other aristocratic pranks ; and it appears that one Nightingale , from Manchester , in company with one Peteb Wilkius , ( another of Coibett ' s christening . ) was hired by the Tories to spout or them ; and then the brat saya that Nightingale is a Chartist leader , and he concludes his nonsense thus : — " Nightixgale is one of the heroes of iis ( the Northern StarJ pages , and hi 3 exploits at Walsall were the theme of its loudest plaudits . "
ion lying little monkey—you dirty little brat } Can you find the name of Nightingale four times mentioned in the Northern Star in nearly as many years ? Can you find it once mentioned a 3 a Chartist , or even hinted at by us in connection with the Walsall election ? Answer that , Young Neddy- Jack-Tayloh ! You know , you young imp , that Nightingale is not a Chartist leader—never was a Chartist leader , and never will be a Chartist leader .
You mistook the pages of the Star for your papa ' s lying journal , wherein was published Mr . O'Consell ' s " plaudits" of itr . Nightingale . You must go there , yon cripple , to look for Mr . Nightingale ' s character . You know that no Chartist leader has ever been hired by Whig or Tory , without being instantly drummed out of the Chartist camp . Witness the " Russians . " You know that the Chartist leaders , who have defeated your whole army , have been , one and all , working men , and you naturally feel the smart of your humiliation .
You little cur ! your masters have tried to hire Chartist leaders , and they couldn ' t get one ! they picked up one Mosley from tie ranks , and what has become of him ? That has been their only purchase , and they had a bob in him ! We wish thenT joy of him and you 1 You say that you know the exact sum of money that Nightisgale got for his expences to Walsall . What do we care for that J Can you tell us how much Mr . Acland got to bear his expences from Hull and Bristol ? and what he will charge for a visit to either of those towns , or to Lteds , or the West or East Riding of Yorkshire ] He is one of your leaders ; and he will tell you not to throw stones from his wing of the house , at all events .
You call Dr . Wape a Chartist—perhaps you call yourself a Chartist of the right sort . Your praise of Lovztt , Yincext , and Collins is rather unfortunate , inasmuch , as the Convention , of which they were members , resolved that you Bhould be opposed . But , young cub , answer us just this one question . Yon are hare-hunters , whose practice it is to try back when they loose the game ; we are fox-hunters , whose custom it is to cast a-head . Now , in trying back , why miss a single gap through which the game has passed ! Why jump -from 1841 to 1815 , and sot try 1819 ? Can you answer that ?
If the Corn Laws be unholy , and we admit it , what was Peel ' s Bill , which was to the moneymongers an equivalent for the Corn Law Bill of the land-mongers 1 Why pass that over ! There is £ 50 in every £ 90 at once , which requires no abstruse calculation , no balancing of foreign and domestic interest , bnt a plain question of pounds , shillings , and pence , which every man can understand , and
no man can mystify . Why not try that gap ? Ah ! because it is too plain for humbug . Ought you to kill ona of the Siamese youths and allow the other to live ? No , no ; kill the one , whose putrid carcase will soon kill the other . Kill Peel's Bill , and the other will soon die of stench ; but kill the Corn Laws , and Peel ' s becomes a hundred-fold evil . It leaves it in the power of every pensioner , taxeater , soldier , sinecorist , and state auper , and
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money-monger , to purchase just three times as much of the po * r man ' s labour for his settled income , as he could before . Begin at the pounds , shillings , and pence , and then see what the Chartist Leaders will do for you . Novr do this , or for ever hold yoar gab . There are two ends to the stick , the right and the wrong end ; we have got hold of the right end , and we are so whacking and thumping you , you poor wretches , that you don't know whether you stand on your head or your heels , or which way to turn ; and while you are essaying to make the Corn Laws a religious questioa , you most religiously commence with a K Lie . " " Young Liar of the North , " we have taken so much from one leaf of your book , and now we shall proceed to take a scxap from another leaf .
In the Juvenile Monster ' s Nursery Thoughts upon the duty of the " Plague , " ( come , that's a good name for the League , ) we find the following ( for them destructive , but to our party ) most wholesome advice . In talkin g of singleness of purpos * , the brat Bays— " They must avoid the error of the goodhearted , bustling Martha , who was * careful and troubled about many things . ' They must seek to discover that especial task which they are fitted to discharge , assured that , by directing themselves to that ' one thing whick is needful , ' they are rightly serving tliat end for which they were sent into the world . " Thanks , great thanks , precocious yoath for thy juvenile approval of the identical principle upon which the Chartists have acted throughout .
Now , then , it follows , as a matter of course , that the " one thing which is n « edful" is the thing which should absorb our every attention . This limits our labours to the simple consideration as to which of the two questions shall be given up by the Chartists ; as the agitation for one would damage the other , and reduce us to the sad plight of the " good-hearted , bustling Martha . " Upon this subject we fan « y tkere will not , at least among Chartists , be two opinions . So far so good .
Now , just a word by way of reply , to the whole " Establishment" in general , and the Anglo-Saxon and " Young Liar of the North" in particular , upon the subject of Chartist interference at anti-Corn Law meetings . In the commencement of the campaign , the Chartists attended those meetings , by whomsoever called ; they discussed the several questions and resolutions proposed , with tempeiaaco and good taste ; they merely voted for the affirmative or the negative , aye or no ; but when the Chartists discovered that ten pair of kid- skin gloves , and ten gold rings , upon shop boy ' s fingers and thumbs , under the nose of a short-sighted ,
swiveleyed Mayor , counted for hundreds of blistered hands , too dark to be seen in the distance , the owners of those English hands began to call out " fair play , " " fair play . " Iu many cases , and particalarly in one instance , in Glasgow , where those systematic patriots counted their house , the people found that the Provosts and Mayors were owls by candle-light , though sharp as hawks by day . Even this the Chartists bore for a long time , until it was discovered that the treachery of eg officio Chairmen caused alarm and discontent in the minds of some of the conscientious Repealers . To lull so dangerous a suspicion it then became necessary to bully the Chartists , which was successfully tried
at Liverpool , upon a large scale , and as successfully retorted in London , Manchester , Leeds , and other places , upon as large a scale . Tho Chartists were not slow at discovering that this want of vision in Ex-officio chairmen , backed by the whole forco of the " Establishment , " was calculated to give the "Plague" a triumph at every meeting . Thus was Chartism to have been swamped in a Repeal of the Corn Laws . For a short period these very circumstances did actually intimidate our friends , and add to the insolence and intolerance of our rampant enemies ; until . at length , ( dependants , spurred on by the rude examplo of their employer , ) Mr . Sydney Smith actually had recourse to knocking off hats , and other ungentlemanly violence .
Tne Ex-offidos refused the people the use of their own buildings , to take a negative or affirmative vote upon their own resolutions ; and in many cases , where an Anti-Corn Law meeting was divided , it was discovered that ten , twenty , thirty , and even as many as fifty to one have been against motions , said to be carried by the Ex-officios . We require no proof beyond theunanimoustestimonyof working men to substantiate our charges ; but , should any be thought necessary , we saw with our own eyes , and heard with our own ears , at the recent Leeds Demonstration , the grossest .
most palpable , and ungentlemanlike cheat ever attempted to ba practised . We subsequently saw published , aa the resolutions of a meeting of more than 10 , 010 persons , a string of stuff that was whispered , amid a storm of hisses , in the ears of a man who was voted not to be in the chair . Thus , if proof beyond the honest testimony of honest working men be required , we hava had oral and ocular demonstration of the fact ; add to this the declaration of Mr . Walter , aa Chairman , that a protest merely read was carried .
What alternative had we tinder such cirenmstancei , bnt to move an impartial Chairman , and declare our principles , not by a negative vote upon a clap-trap resolution , but upon the affirmative of those principles \ How were we to meet" angry feeling , " and " passionate invective , " but in kind \ Aye , and should the advice of ' * Anglo Saxon" be acted upon , we will meet blow with blow , moral force with moral force , and physical force with physical force , when unconstitutionally used . This eystem was also resorted to by hired and unprincipled lecturers . Just let the " Young liar of tho North " Look on this picture , And then on this .
Mr . Sydney Smith , that It was announced that fearless champion of the Mr . Sydney Smith was to poor man's rights , has been deliver an address upou incessant in his advocacy the subject of the Cum ef the cause nearest every Laws , last night at Berpoor man's heart , the re- mondsey , and the working pi-al of the odious , unchris- classes considering themtian , ungodly , inhuman selves as the parties most Corn Laws . Thistalented interested in the discussion , orator lectured every night mustered la great numbers . during : the past week , to About eight o'clock the crowded and highly de- lecturer arrived , when Mr . lighted audiences of the Barleycorn took the chair , ¦ working classes , in differ- and announced Mr . Smith ent parts of the Metropolis , to the meeting . Previous and , in every instance , the to the commencement of lecturer was heard 'with , business , Mr . Wall , a the greatest attention Chartist , asked the Chairthroughout bis able expo- man if discussion would sure of the infernal laws be allowed , to which ho which rob the poor for the replied , "No ; certainly benefit of the rich ; and , not ; the bills announced a at the close of each meet- lecture by Mr . Sydney ing , Ihe assembled thou- Smith w . 7 io has engaged the sands retired highly de- room . " lighted with the proceed- Mr . Wall : " Will Mr . ings , after giving three Smith answer questions times three cheers for their which may be proposed by indefatigable champion . the meeting ?"
Chairman : " No ; decidedly not " Mr . Wall : " Arethere to be any resolutions ?" Chairman : " O , no ; Mr . Smith ia of opinion that resolutions load to argument , and it ia quite necessary that the working men should appear to be unanimous . " Upon the latter announcement , several Chartists about the chair expressed their disapprobation , when Mr . Smith knocked one man's hat off and commenced a violent attack upon the Chartists generally . Now , you scape-grace 1 "how are you off for soap V and Chartist leaders ?
In conclusion , " don't forget your assertion ; we pin yon to it ; produce your proof of the Star ' s •* loudest plaudits'' of Nightingale , or wear your name cheerfully as M Young Liar of the North . " In your own words , and directed to with your own h » nd upon the wall , thus & We defy you /' The " Young Liar" thus concludes : — « 6 » " Our friends of the press will , we hope , give all the publicity in their power to the doings of these men , in order to put their deluded followers on their guard . " So Bay we , Young Liar J" Publicity is all we want to crush you to atoms . As * matter of course , the Artful Dodger ( ChronJcUJ and the Golden Sun have taken the
article , b ody aad sleeves , from the " Young Liar . " Will they poWtsi our answer \ Not they , indeedthe ehvts .
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WAIT A WEE . We are near , very near , the beginning of the end . It is an old and not a bad saying , that " when poverty comes in at the door , love flies out at the window . " But , alas ! the Whigs make their friends even love by compulsion , for having forced a little " sneakingregard" through the door , they now make their lovers build up their windows for fear of an escape .
Truly , Whig oourtship ia an odd thing . A . rural ruffian forces " lumps of love" upon us , and Frank Baring niches it up like the frail sisters of old ; so there we are , like a horse with a cart tied to his tail , —no escape ; if he kicks he only hurts his hocks , and if he runs away he drags his load after him . Well , never mind . Wo have heard much of the grand effeot of pressure from without , and now let us have a trial of the effect of pressure from within .
" It is an ill wind that blows nobody good , eajs the proverb , and , in good faith , our kind rulers very much resemble somo Irish liberal landlords , who , we have heard , enable their cottier tenants to pay high rents for low hovels , by placing them as " brokers" or " keepers , " as they are termed , over the more wealthy . 'The Whigs , for ten years , have tried the system of feeding oue section of the community upon
another section . The landlords got a slice of the parsons and the peasants ; the parsons got a slice of the solid , or * consplid , " or " consolidated fund , " which literally means " tho calf in the cow ' s belly . " The mill-owners got a slice , and a fat one , of thoir slaves ; the people got a slice of the sabre , and now the pensioners want ten per cent , of a slice of all ; and , in order to effect this , the joiners and masons will get a slice in shutting out Whig daylight .
Wo hear of nothing now but meeting the ten per cent ., and what may follow , so that presently , in good earnest , John Bull ' s house will not only be his castle , but his tomb . This is the pressure from within . Now , all this works marvellously well for us ; every poor beggar who . hat been niched off may be numbered among the killed , or cut off , of the enemy ]; while those who have been built out are sure to join our ranks . Our corps is getting Tery atrong ; aad why not , with such a recruiting service , with General Barihg as our recruiting offioer , the Treasury our depot , and the honourable corps of pensioners our staff ! Good lack ! what a country of rogues and paupers ! !!
When Mr . O'Connor was defending himself at York , he- ' said that if the reduction on newspaper stamps was not actual repeal of the law of libel , it was , at all events , a virttal extension of license to all political writers , as they were supposed to write in plain language for a common sense community ; and he said , that the Stamp Reduction Act was the beginning of Reform . We believe it sincerely ; but the misfortune of the times is , that the Whigs always put the horse ' s head where the horse's tail ought to be . They bring their produce into the world wrong end foremost . Now , if the people had got a cheap
press in 1828 , the Reform of 1832 would have been a substantial , instead of an ideal reform , and instead of repairing the old road , in common with others , as we should have been engaged in doing , from 1828 to 1832 , we are now compelled to n '/ jht , single-handed , against the whole community , for a new right of passage . Instead of dragging a light load on a plain , and with help , we are obliged to drag an ovor-wcight , in single harness , up an almost perpendicular hill , and iu which we should utterly fail but for the kind assistance of Baring and Company .
Again , " out of evil comes good . " In 1839 , when the Penny Postage was in high favour , Mr . O'Connor , in addressing the people of Newcastle , said , " You contemplate great things from the Peuny Postage ; let me tell you what your share will be . Just the right to make up almost one million annually of a deficit saved to merchants , traders , bankers , and so forth . " Now , while the melancholy tale before us shows that Mr . O'Connor was not far wrong , let us endeavour to eke our share of good , certainly never intended , out of this evil .
Under the old syBtem , then , we devoted about ten columns weekly to what is called local news , that is , to mere matters which happeu within the cheap circle of newspaper acquaintance . Men at a distance would not pay two shillings , and two and sixpence , for a double letter containing matter of the utmost importance , and we would not release it unpaid in utter ignorance of its conteutB . It will b » borne in mind , that many notices proclaimed those rejected addresses , the mer « post mark furnishing our correspondent with our only knowledge of him , aud our refusal aa our only apology . When the
postage was reduced to fourpence , our circle of acquaintance became considerably enlarged ; and upon the " penny trumpet" being sounded , our office has beeu literally a little post-office , as we stated before , sometimes receiving more than a hundred letters by a single post , which hundred letters would not have been written under the old system , and which , if written , and paid for by us , would break us , horse , foot , and dragoons , in twelve months . Sixty pounds a week would fall far short of paying our present
receipts , according to the old rate , and now behold our paper . It is England , Scotland , Wales , and a peep at a bit of Ireland , at one view . Bradford , L- 'eds , Huddersfield , Halifax , and our nearest neighbours , are now but a portion of the great Radical world , while formerly they constituted nearly our entire circle . Many will now venture a penny , even upon chauce , and hence we not unfrequently receive two or three reports of the same meeting , written the one in ignorance of the other .
Hence , then , the impossibility of ever again " gulling the natives ; " hence , the proof that the knowledge was there , if not dammed up with a golden quicksand ; and , above all , hence our conviction that an organic change now , with such pioneers , sentinels , and telegraphs , must be a change of measures , and not a mete substitution of one set of puppets for another . The penny postage is a national tell-tale ; a cheap discloser of secrets ; an alarmist ; as Jonins says , " a hue and cry , which puts the neighbours on their guard , by announcing the thief ' s approach . " The penny postage has given Chartism a shove behind , which has nearly sent it up "Constitution HILL ;" and now , we defy any designing knave to cut the tight trace and let it down again .
Go it , Frank ; go it , you cripple ! Ten per cent , more upon windows , customs , and excise , by all means ; nay , why not twenty 1 it i 8 only a figure . Tax our livers as you have taxed our lights—nothing like it ; for every squeeze yon get from the pressure from without , give your friends * squeeze rom the pressure from within . Mister Baring , the indirect magio of Exchequer harlequinism is gone . Whoever the wand now strikes , he is nailed for the reckoning . Poor John has no more—you cannot get at him , directly or indirectly , dead or alive—there is no blood in a turnip
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Indeed , your only mode . of taxing the poor * now , for the beneBt of the rich , would be by a tax on brains . Frank , be assured , that nature cut you out for a ploughman , but the Devil ran away with -the pattern , and Dame Fortune passing by in a f roticksome mood , made a gentleman of you in fun . Go , go , to the Upper House ; go .
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REBELLION , SHIP-BURNING , SMUGGLING , AND RIOT , JUSTIFIED & RECOMMENDED BY THE " CHRONICLE . " We give the following treasonable article from the Chronicle of Tuesday last , and we demand the Attorney General ' s interference : — A pamphlet is in circulation , entitled ' Daily Bread . * which recommends to the industrious poor a new species of practical protest against the bread tax , as a likely means of exonerating themselves from its severe and unjust pressure . The scheme proposed is for a penny subscription from so large a number of the working classes , aided by the contributions of those who also
suffer from and are opposed to the food monopoly , as may suffice to freight one er more vessels with continental corn or American flour , and bring it into some English port On its arrival , a distribution amongst the owners to be formally claimed , and if refused , as it of course would be , to proceed to . the public destruction of the cargo . Without passing any opinion on this plan , we wish to fix attention on the fact that sueh a plan is propounded and entertained . " For ought that appears the process would be perfectly legal . There is no law against the investment of the smallest sums by hungry artizans in the purchase of food from foreigners . The vessel so freighted might
legally anchor in our ports . The petition of a thousand famishing families for leave to land and eat the food which they had purchased from their small and hard earnings might bo a most unexceptionable document The refusal by the Custom , house authorities , or by their masters on reference to them , would also be legal , and we presume inevitable . The right of the proprietary would be unquestionable to throw their cargo overboard , though the billows of Goole harbour , or the waters of the Thames should be whitened with the spoil ; or though the execrations of multitudes ,
witnessing the waste while they were pinched with want , should be both loud and deep ; and if the hungry and augry thousands broke out into violence , it would than become legal to read the Riot Act , call out the military , and suppress the disturbance at whatever cost of human bloodshed . Whatever the wisdom , justice , or expediency , of any one step of the process , each is yet free from the charge of unlawfulness . The proposition is legal , and it is entertained ; that is the . gist of the matter , and the fact may perhaps be worth a thought . "
A pamphlet has also been sent to our office translated from the French , by M . Thiers , in which the writer speaks of the anohoriag , in several British ports , of a numbtr of email steamers freighted with muskets , pieces of ordnance , swords , and accoutrements of all sorts , on their way to America , and let the English people know " that if they take them , they should , as loyal subjects , at once give them up to the nearest authorities . " Ah ! ah ! we were perfectly aware that the moral force Whigs , who set fire to Bristol , Nottingham , and Newcastle , and threatened the King with decapitation , and paraded pictures of the Queen in breeches , would never wait for the legal , peaceable , constitutional redress of their grievances , but that our forbearance would drive them into open rebellion .
Hovr very , very , very , disinterested of eur' contemporary , the Artful Dodger , to risk life and limb , treason and rebellion , arson and murder , with' their oonsequences , for a people who request them not to take the slightest trouble on their behalf . Is this act a proof that , without the people , violence alone must be the argument of tyrants ! We most seriously and strenuously recommend the article in the Chronicle of Tuesday last to the
consideration of our Glasgow friends on Tuesday next , and we trust that some bold fellow will , in a peaceful and dignified resolution , propose a vote of censure upon that corrupt Journal , for thus attempting to jeopardise the peace ef the country , in order to ensure the success of a favourite project . We trust that our Glasgow correspondent will favour us with an early report of Tuesday ' s proceedings , and that such a resolution will be among them . Who , we ask , could oppose it 1
We thought it would come to this at last . Bat , no , no , Master Dodger ; we are not going to have a f « w more hangings of poor men , to carry any hambug measures for the rich ones . Will Easthope be one , if we get him a party 1 Will he lead them on to the righteous work of destroying th « cargo Will he do his own bidding ! If so , let him send « s prospectuses for the Whig plundering recruiting service , that we may distribute them among the traitor middle classes .
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ORGANIZATION : —ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE . The general Counoil of the National Charter Association of Great Britain being now elected it is incumbent on them to take instant measures for bringing into existence the Executive Commits * that the Association may be fully and fairly jn operation . These must , by the new plan of orgmJ sation , be chosen from the General Council . We have had several letters of enquiry as to whether persons were eligible for the Executive Committee not being members of the General 'Council . XW fourteenth paragraph of the Plan of Organisation answers all these . — - ^
"'EXECUTIVE COUKITTEB . " 14 . That the General Council of the Association shall choose rive Members of their own body to sit u an Executive Committee , in manner as herein follows - _ , Every Sub-Secretary shall be at liberty to nominate on « candidate , on the First Day of February in tach j ™ and five persons from among those so Bominated skill be elected by all the Members on the first day of March following . " ¦ w From this it will be seen that every Sub- Secret « j 13 at liberty to nominate one person and no more i Member of the General Council , as a fit and prow * person to serve on the Executive Committee . Thj exact form of nomination is given in the Northern Star of the 27 th of February , aad to save any p ^ son the trouble of referring , lest some Sub-Secre . taries may not fill their papers , we here give jj
again : — " To the General Secretary of the National Chart Association of Great Britain . February 1 , 18 _ Sir , —I hereby nominate A . B . ( blacksmith ; of ( 14 , High-street , Bath , ) a Member of the General Council of the National Charter Assieiation of Qm | Britain , as a fit and proper person to be elected i Member of the Executive Committee , on the 1 st du of Marsh next .
Signed , CD ., ( Carpenter , No . 6 , Tib-street , Manchester . ; Member of the General Council , and Sub-Secretarj of the National Chatter Association d Great Britain . " " A list of all the candidates so nominated , shall bs transmitted , per post , by the ( general Secretary , to every Sub-Secretary , on or before the loth Day a
February ; the elections shall be taken on the First dw of Match following ; &nd the number of votes shall be immediately forwarded to the General Secretary , who shall lay the same before the out-going Executive Committee for examination , and by their order publuh , within one week of receiving them , the whole ol such returns ; together with the declaration of tht outgoing Executive Committee , of the persons duty elected . "
These directions are so plain that we imagine they can need no explanation . It is the duty ol every sub-Secretary , upon receiving from the General Secretary the list of all the names pat in nomination for the Executive , to take care that every member of the society , residing in his locality , shall have an opportunity of voting for such five persons out of thtt number , as he may think to be the most eligible to count up the numbers that vote for each candidate , and make a return thereof to the General
Secretary , who will put all these returns together and publish them . Each place will then hare an oppor tunity of checking the accuracy of the return , because every sub-Secretary will , of course , keep a copy o ( his own return , and every member , knowing for whom he voted , will be able with very little troabU to ascertain whether the sub-Secretary has made 1 correct return . The voting for members of tin Executive , will , of course , be conducted ia prtcisely the same way as that for members of the General Council . '
We have several letters enquiring whether tk Provisional Executive be eligible for election t Certainly : they are pro tempore , to all intents aid purposes , the Executive Committee . The Executive Committee is , on the very face of the plan , part and parcel of the General Council : every memba of the present Executive is eligible , therefore , to be nominated to take his chanw ol election on the annual Executive Committee . We trust that this business will be immediately proceeded with , and that we shall be able next week to publish the whole list of nominations for the Executive .
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THE PETITION CONVENTION . We have received intimations from almost all parts of the country , of the resolutions of the various bodies and public meetings of the people , cordially concurring in the postponement of tbt meeting of this body until the 3 rd of May . Lack of space prevtnted the possibility of our inserting the various resolutions , and this general notice of them is sufficient .
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O'CONNOR AND O'CONNELL . We were aware that the letters of O'Connor to O'Walley , the spread of Chartism in Ireland , and the dread of its just principles by all humbug politicians , must , sooner or later , be met by the Archtraitor ; in proof whereof , we give the following biS from the Belfast Vindicator , and also the proceeding at a recent meeting of the " Royal Loyals : " - " Chartism in Newrt . —The Right Rev . Dr . Blake , who is ever solicitous for the welfare > ot W neoule . addressed them , on S » nday : last , on the evta
and dangers of Chartism , and warned them strongij against being seduc « d into countenancing ; it . iw people , we are convinced , will see the wisdom « attending to advice which can have no other ot ) je » than their good ; and will avoid , as a pestilence , * system which , in England , has broughUhe mrkug classes to crime and destitution . If the poor mat would not be deceived and disappointed , let dib look for relief in the reformation of the landl ° " and tenant system—in the encouragement ot nauw manufacture—in temperance—in repeal—in a . worn , let him look for it where it is to be found , W let him not put his trust in a system which w » filled tho jails of EnRland with prisoners , and w
poor-houses with paupers . ' So much for the Vindicator . Now for Dak : — Mr . O'Connell again raid—Mr . Bay has stated tiai the next business in order is to bring forward tbe « P _ ° V of the committee , ona plan for the security ofUie If ™; lords , and the f > af ety of the tenantry of Ireland , Mtw fore I enter into that 1 wish to allude to M ° ™ eTB ™ , ject . ( Mr . Lethbridge here entered the meeting ana to received-with loud cheers . When the cbeewg w
subsided , Mr . O'ConneU resumed . ) Wm » ej ^* agreeably interrupted by the entrance of ^ "JW JJ was stating that there was a subject which I * *™* bring before the Association previous to subim tungw you the report of the committee in reference to t&e » lords and tenantry of Ireland . I read . I *«« « T ~ with great feelings of pain , a paragraph whicfi a Pj * T in the Newry Examiner , and which was « P" « ™ J some of the Dublin paper * , stating that some person in Nftwrv had recently held there a Chartist mteung .
that borrowing the designation of Chartists there h » J been a meeting of the trades of that town to es »« " »» Chartism there . If ever there was a period "J ""^ it was necessary for the people of Ireland to £ « sp V £ fectly clear of any connexion with Cbartl 8 m ^" neaui period . They advocate force and violence . - ™^^ v we advocate are different from theirs , we aavoc ** u * e of moral force alone , and the wwiih **" ^ opinion of the entire nation . ( Hear , hear . ) «« wr > opinion oi mo enure uawuu . l ** o-. » -- —¦ ^ m arei » vww
g held out by them , as a pretence , that they violence ( and many of the Charttato , I adnut , « en » involved in the criminality of their leaders ) , nni g > doctrine of their leaders is to have ™ *** 7 ^ torch and the dagger , and , b the ^ ° ^? 0 VerST » means , they have not only involved ^* J ^ M violation of the law , but they have incurred tteenwof Its violation ; they have incurred imprlBonment ^ otoer punishments . ( Loud cries of hew , & «* . ^ w « nuomt overlook for one moment »» T 5
ijsow diaunioo among the Repealers of Irel *" ? ' oni 4 \ introduction of Chartism amongst theffl { f °° ir det » \ remind them that when an attempt was befo » J ^ , < I introduce Chartism into Dungarvan , the ^ " " ht \ garvah rejected it , and they not only W ™ ~ J fifol \ Subllsbed ' the letter of the B ^^^ StfcSS I their co-operation . In that letter , the EngUA CMtb- j calls himself a stem Republican . Now , we w ^ i repuWicanfl-we are opposed to reP uWlcam * ° ; . T ft 1 satisfied with a monarchy , and we to *» - . »^ jKS | J monarch that Is placed over us , whom ^ 3 j ^ u J preserve ! ( fcoud cheers . ) We got here , ¦ «* **?' & j our own amusement . Feargua O'Connor ' s p » P « | ¦ j Northern Star , and I shall read an e *^* ° _ Bee&t , you . ( Hear . 1 It to headed " Glorlons Be ** - ^ j , m andfall of the humbug empire , and ri « e ox */ u ~ ^ * , & Ireland : " - * ' In Dublin , Newry , »«« «* kf £ ? H 2 M ( where , I wouW wish to know , i » ^ 'f ^ f ^ n fl M many other parts of Ireland ^^' XTm * % being adopted and fondly nourished by fe JJ ^ „ M newborn Irish . ( The infant Charttan I I T » J lett , | recollect that phrase . ) We give the foUowu * j from a most rmwctobfc pewon in Xoughcrea tt M
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THE CONVENTION AND THE EXECUTIVE . Fbom the letter of the Executive , which wo published last week , we fear they have mistaken our previous caution for their protection , and that they mistake responsibility for duty . We object to any responsibility which may subject them to jealousy being imposed upon them ; but we would still more object to any fastidiousness in the discharge of an imperative duty . There is no responsibility in drawing names from a hat ; but there is a duty which somebody must discharge , and for the discharge of which the Executive is , we think , est qualified . We trust , therefore , that they will call a public meeting for the most convenient and earliest day , to reduco by ballot to the required numbe ^ the number of persons chosen to sit oh the Convention , in order that we may give timely notice in Our next . While we would secure them from responsibility , we would expect a fearless discharge of duty . Thi 3 is the most simple that could be imposed .
The ] S T Oetheil]N T Stafv. Saturday, April 17, 1841.
THE ] S OETHEil ] N STAfv . SATURDAY , APRIL 17 , 1841 .
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THE FACTORY QUESTION . The mass of incontrovertible evidence collected during the agitation in which the lamented Sables and the now cell-bound Oa . st . ler were particularly distinguished , is not erased from the nwmories of our numerous readers . The horrid system was then unveiled to the eye of the world in all its hideous deformity , and the facts then adduced were so palpable as even to silence the priests of Moloch themselves . Yet , notwithstanding the almost
superhuman exertions of the gentlemen above referred to and their coadjutors , maugre the enormous expeuce unavoidably incurred in the struggle to emancipate the immature slaves of Christian Britain , and in spite of the prayers and demands of the people to have this stain obliterated from our national character , our merciful legislators , at the bidding of the avaricious proprietors of the " rattle-boxes , " cheated the people with a law productive of no real benefit to the enslaved operative , nor yet beneficial to the humane portion of the manufacturers .
The poor factory children were , in the first instance , sold by the Irish trait « r , O'Conneix ; and the factory workers generally were subsequently sold by the law makers , to the " bit of a Parliament . " Since the sale , " the humanity-monger ? , '' as our neighbour of the Mercury would term them , have rested on their oars . Trial has bees made of the Act . It has been " weighed in the balance and found wanting , " and , therefore , the enemies of the monster are again preparing for the combat . We wish them God speed , and shall render them every assistance in our power , as we fully coincide with their views , namely : —
" That for the last four years , owing in part to the amazing increase of the number of factories since 1834 , factory employment has become much more uncertain than it was before tkis increase of factories took place , and that , during these four years , numbers that did work in factories have lost employment altogether ; numbers more have been put on short time , and another portion have been working excessive hours , which has been injurious to their health , destructive to their morals , and has left them no time , such as rational beings Bhould have , for either education or recreation .
" And also that it would conduce to the interest and add to the satisfaction of factory occupiers , as well as factory workers , if the labour performed ia factories was better distributed than it now is ; and that no persons should be allowed to work ia factories excessive hours , not longer than tea in any one day . " It is well known that the present Act for regulating factory labour , is , in numerous cases , evaded and violated ; and did it possess any salutary properties , they are rendered inoperative by the cupidity of the employer , and the falsehoods of those parents who have a greater zest for the few pence , called " wages" (!) than they have for the moral , physical , and spiritual welfare of their children . We contend that ten hours actual labour per day is as much as human nature can sustain with
impunity ; and , therefore , we pledge our assistance in the efforts now about to be made . We hear that a petition fa now jn the course of signature , in this town , praying fox the enactment of a law restricting all person * employed in factories to fifty-eight hours per week . There is no doubt of this petition being numerously signed : ia fact , we are told that more sheets are required than can at present be supplied , all , or nearly bo , being already filled up . Exertiota axe being made in various other town ? , to get up similar petitions , by Mr . Mask . C&abtbee , a known and tried friend of the factory child . To those engaged in the good work we say—Go on AMD PROSPER .
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THE NORTOjj _ S _ TiR >
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 17, 1841, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct851/page/4/
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