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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, MAY 22, 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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" FREE" DISCUSSION ! PACKED MEETING ! WiT TO GET a SUPPORT" FOR THE WHIG MIXISTaY , ( Reported by a Stranger Present . ) Tr- Whigs of Manchester hare th ' 13 week held a aneetin ^ . for the purpose of supporting Ministers , nnder ci .-cximstances which bnt too plainly proclaim the wretchad condition to which the * ' bloody faction" is reduced . They had tiie impudence u > ca ' : l ' their meeting a public meeting : while the measures tbey ; ook were such as to tffectually exclude the fitter . The meeting was called by the Mayor , in purs-. ssse of a leguisition , very numerously signed ; tlis major portion of those Bignatores'having "b een © braised so that a trick might be pl 3 yed offnponthe public : * nd that , by mear . s of this trick , the . p lace of me-ting might be packed , and a favour able opinion respecting Ministers thus secured .
The trick was this : a large number of tickets Trere prepared , purporting to be addressed to the tequisitionists , and to them only . The following is a copy of this ticket ; first premising that the ttaetiD j was called for eleven o ' clock : — " As one of the r . qiisitionists , you are requested to attend at a quarter past ten o ' clock on Tuesday morning . " Thi ^ e rickets were extensively distributed sniongst all persons , whether requisitionists or not , wherever those distributing them thought they were safe . Scouts were entm-ted frith them by hundred ? , to ferret not those whom thsy could depend on . Warehousemen , ove-lookers , and hangers-on of every
description , and even persona from a distance , totally unconnected with the town of Manchester , had these tickets g veu to them . In fa « the writer of this Tsport , though an inhabitant of a town sixty miles dis'int , and who was only in Manchesier ou private business , was presented with one of . these tickets ; and he wa 3 accompanied to the mseting by ionr other gentlemen , not ona of whom was a requiMnonist , or indeed hardly ever saw the requisition even when printed ; but all whom had had tickets presented to them & 3 requisitionists , and they were admitted to the meeting by the private entrance in that character .
By half-past ten the public bejraTi to assemble , and < H » attempting to enter by either of the usual passages they were repelled by parties who refused to give either their names or authority . On further inquiry it was d'seovered that persons wero in the meantime procuring admission through the police-office in another part of the building , and on proceeding to the spf % we found this passage lined on the inside with police on either hand , and ticket-bearers only admined , one by one , with the most jsalous scrutiny and precaution . On one side was & person , said to be the son of a well-known Whig and member of the Corporation , distributing tiekcts of admission to approved individuals who presented themselves unprovjjed ; but most respectable Conservative gentleaen were distinctly and positively refused . One of
them , to our knowledge , asserted his right to enter as a Commissioner of Police , and succeeded . The "Writer of this report , accompanied by the friend above alluded to , presented himself at the private -entrance , and readily obtained admission on producing his " ticket . " On entering the large room , he fourd it about half filled with persons who had been admitted in the same manner as he had ; while large er ; wds of persons were waiting in the portico and ia the street , in front of the building ,, every ¦ one be ; Dg refused admittance if he wa¬ possessed of a " ncket . " Indeed , the following fact , as given in the Manchester Chronicle , of Wednesday , will shew the tv . eu ; to which thi 3 system of exclusion was carried , and the resolute determination to have none but thoroughgoing Ministerialists present .
" Mr . Robert Gardner , an eminent merchant ana Bianuf icturer , of Conservative politics , and an ardent fneucitofree-tradepriiiciples ^ hadeDgagedjOnthefanh that the meeting wa 3 to be of a purely commercial aad no . political character , to move the first resolution . Oa first presenting himself at the police barricade he fortunately had his ticket with him , but meeting a gentleman , of the highest re .-pectability , who hid been repulsed for want of a . ticket , Mr . Gardcerendeavoured to introducehim in his company . Finding that the police were under orders so stringent that th-ry could not allow this , Mr . Gardner went in
alone , and remonstrated with the parties assembled , oa the extreme severity of the measures adopted to exclude the public . He subsequently returned to communicate the result of his remonstrance to his excluded friend , bnt unfortunately left hU ticket behind him . On presenting himself a second time at the barrier , he was rudely refused admittance ; sod on producing the resolution which he had to move , S 3 evidence of his title to entrance , the officer in command of the police exclaimed— ' Take that man inio custody ; ' and he was , in point of fact , actually ejected—thrust out—by the hands of the police !
* Of coarse the police-officer would never have presumed to have acted thu-, had he not received Cistmc ; and positive ordersfrom the presiding authorities ; « o that tne ease amounts to this . The Manchester Whi < c 3 , with the Mayor at their head , first entrap a Conservative gentleman into a promise of co-operation with them under fa \ 3 e preienced ; ar > u when he ventures to remonstrate against the unprecedented and unwarrantable steps they take to pack their meeting , theyactually seizea pretext to get him toned oat with insult and even violence" ! It isonly of MancDester Whigs and Manchester Corporators that an * thing so utterly despicable , - unmanly , and brutish could be predicated . "
By these means the room was fully three-fourths filed wiia ' Rtquisilionists" who had not signed the requisition 1 As a sort of pretence for this trick , the committee of arrangements went through the farce of submitting their resolutions to the "Requisitionistd , " and taking a vote upon them . All this time , aud until after the clock had struck eleven , ( the advertised hoar for the business of the meeting to eommeacej ths doors were kept closed , aad the public excluded ! Be / ore the doors were thrown open , the . Mayor assumed the chair ; and he rose to open the business of the day simultaneously with the appearance of the first oatch of the persons constituting the . public . After the doors were opeDed , not one word of what he aid could be heard by the met-ing ; for . he spoke while the persons who had been exemded ( until a
majority had beea packed into the room ) were entering . He is reported , by the Manchester Guardian , to have raid , " He had taken the chair according to the power vested in him by law—( hear , hear , — he wished to allow fair and free discussion—( hear)—he hoped no one would advance principles . be was afraid of being controverted , and that the meeting would patiently listen to any observations made . Any amendments to the resolutions to be submitted , BO long as those amendments were in accordance with the subject for which this meeting was con-Tened , should be submitted to the meeting for its decision . He hoped that , a 3 Englishmen , they would respect the laws , and wonld conduct themselves with that peace and decorum becoming the "important Bubjeet they were this day met to consider . "—0 * Hear , hear , " and a cry of " Down with the Whigs' ")
A Mr . Alderman K& . T rose to move the first resolution to be adopted by the public meeting ; and Sir Thoxas PonEB seconded it . Both these gentlemen were heard with th « greatest patience and attention . Indeed , not a single interruption of any kind or -Jegree was offered to them . When the Mayor rose to perform the farce of potting the motion to the meeting , the Rev . Mr . ScBoyiiXB presented h : m ? eli " to move an amendment . No Booncr , however , did be rise for this purpose , than it seemed as if hell itself were let loose . The patriotic , enlightened , educated ^ " liberal" Whigs Bet up yells , groans , hisses , aud brayiugs ; some of them using cat-cads , and other artific . iil modes of annoyances . Nos a word could be he 3 rd from Mr . Sebofield ; and he was ultimately compelled to &it down , with barely moving his amendment in dumb ¦ how .
Mr . Elijah Dixo . t , who wi » m the body of the room , called out thit re would second the amendment ; aarf he attempted to go upon the hustings to offer to tne meeting his reasons for bo doing . His progress thither was opposed by a gang of *• respectable" blackguards , who set upon Mr . Dixon with fiend-like ferocity , nsing their feet and fisis in the most ** educated" manner , and pushii = g about , hoot ing , and kicking in the most '" gentlemanly'' s-tyle . For full five minutes did they fcucceeri iu keeping Mr . Dixon from the hustings , though he was not fi'e ? ards from it when he first set , ou ; to get upon them . Daring ail this time , the Mayor , who bad promised a "fair and free discussion , " and bad calK-d upon his friends to " conduct ihcm = eWes w . th decorum , "
actually stood in front of t ' ne chair , saw-the manner in which his friends were u < ing Mr . Dixon ; saw blows , and kicks given ; and nevrr held up a Ji'iyer , or uttered a word , to get them lo desist ! !! Mr . Dixon , however , at last tought h : s way to the hu > tmgs , and his appearance there Was ihe ^ sitnal tor another outburst of " education" aud " ' isiellectuaBtj . " The ** broad-cloths" yelled most vociferou > ly . The profit-eater produced his cat-call , and most ¦ elegantly" did he use it . The sleek-l ^ km * , primly-dressed , " buttontess blackguard" Quaker ¦ right be seen in many an instance contracting hi * rigid saintly features , and hissirg in most charming tyle . Indeed , all the " ignorant , " " uneducated , " fow fellows" in Manchester could not have beaten the " respectables" at this most intellectual version continued
© f free discussion ! " Atier this had " fo Borne minutes , the Mayt , who had guaranteed free dieeassion ; who had requested for every one a fair hearing ; who was not afraid of any of their principles being controverted ; - [ he ne ? d , not when he hid so effectually packed the meeting]— who h * d called upon his friends to conduct themselves who pease and decorum ; actually had the impu
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or a single reason allowed to be addnced in it 3 support ! As m ? * : ht be expected , the " packed meeting , " who had refused to bear the speakers in support of the amendment , rejected the amendment itself ! Actuated by feelings of unutterable disgust at such 11 respectable" conduct , the writer of th . s report left the meeting , strongly convinced of the absolute Jiecesjity for an extended system of " National Education , " which should have for one of its objects the teaching of the broad-cloth-gentry how to behave themselves as well as the poor , despised , persecuted Chartists . The writer understands that , in an after stage of the proceedings , the following Protest was handed to the Mayor , and by him read to the meeting , It was also extensively posted as a large placard on the walls of the town .
" PACKED MEEEmCQ . " Fellow-towxsmen , —We the undersigned inhabitants of the borough of Manchester , attended at the Town Hall , this morning , from ten until eleven o ' clock , in conseque&ce of the Mayor having convened a public meeting of the inhabitants of the Borough , to be holden there at elaven o ' clock ; and we havmg DEMANDED and been REFUSED ADMISSiuN at the door of the Police Ofiice , ( all the other doors of admission being locked , ) and having witnessed the refusal of many hundred other persons , whilst all parties presenting a ticket
were admitted , do , on these grounds , PROTEST AGAINST the said Meeting being considered a PUBLIC MEETING of the inhabitants of the Borongh , or competent to express their opinions , inasmuch as the room was manifestly PACKED when the doors were opened at eleven o ' clock . " J . B . Wakkltw . " Thomas Fluttoff . " John Bahker . " John Middleton , Jun . " ROBEBT BSADLEY . " R . Kbymbr . " Manchester , 18 th May , 1841 . "
In reference to this very proper and necessary protest , the Manchester Guardian tries to get his friends out of the dirt in the following manner : — li Why these very amusing gentlemen should go to the Town Hall at ten o ' clock , when the meeting was called for eleven , we cannot conceive , and they do not choose to explain . Unless they wanted to pack the meeting , we conceive they would have waited until the time fixed for the commencement of the proceedings . But they allege that "parties presenting a ticket were admitted . " No doubt they were ; tickets had been issued to the parties who signed the
rtqmsition , and who were requested to assemble a little before the time fixed for the commencement of the proceedings , in order that they might determine upon the resolutions to be submitted to the meeting , and select the parties by whom they were to be moved and seconded . Owing to the large number of the requisitionists , no other room in tne building could have contained tkem ; and hence there was a necessity for their assembling in the same room appointed for the public meeting . This proceeding was in strict conformity with the practice of former public meetings in the town ; and its propriety is perfectly unquestionable . "
In answer to the lame effort of the Guardian , it may be observed that it nowhere appears that the protesting gentlemen offered themselves for admission at t * n o ' clock . The doors were not opened for those who had not tickets until after eleven ; and with refwence to the other portion ol the Guardian ' s explanation , the following remarks from the Manchester . Chronicle , published on the same day as the Guardian , dissipates it into thin air . The Chronic ' e says : — " We understand the Mayor affirmed that precedent existed for the preoccupation of the room by ticket-bearers , admitted one by one , through a double column of police lining a private entrance , but we maintain confidently that no such expedient was ever resorted to
before . The requisitionists to public meetings do often assemble before the hour announced , to meet the authorities , and settle the preliminary arrangements ; but such meetings invariably take place in another room , from which , at the due time , the parties proceed to the place of pubiit meeting , when the chair is taken . The business at such previous meeting is strictly preliminary , and the public are expected to assemble meantime in the place assigned for open meeting . But the cards of summons issued on the present occasion , say nothing about preliminary business , and these were distributed to nunureds who were not rt quisitionists ; and by these means the place of public meeting was effectually packed before the hour for opening the doors . This , we repeat , was wholly unprecedented , and it utterly destroyed all the pretensions of the
assembly to ihe character of a public meeting . It was a mere party demonstration , to which , by their command of the Town Hall and of the police , the Corporation attempted to give Bomewhat of the exterior semblance of a Town ' s meeting . " Yes , the meeting was a packed one ! The Whigs of Manchester feel and know , that unless they had resorted to this new method of obtaining an expression of "free opinion , " their meeting would have been a decided failure ! To prevent this , and to procure for their friends a semblance of support , they resorted to the miserable trick of packing the meeting . If they care , let them call an outdoor meeting—and submit their resolutions to it . If they dare take this step , let them do so ! If they do not , the meeting—the packed meeting of Tues day—will have its due effect upon the country , and no more .
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Mr . 0 Brie * . —We have much pleasure in stating that there is do truth in the rumour of O'Brien's ill health . A letter from him is now lying at our office , in which he states that he is unable to account for the origin of the report , but that he is certainly not suffering from any unusually ill state of health . This letter was sent to us for publication in our last , but arrived too late for insertion .
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AGITATION FOR THE WHIGS IN 1832 . AGITATION FOR THE WHIGS IN 1841 . Having borne our full share of abuse for the well-merited odinm which Whig deception has so unsparingly heaped upon the Whig party , we now begin to look about U 3 in order to discover whether or no one poor outcast of a provincial journal could have created so tremendous a storm against our friends , if unaided by their own malicious cooperation .
In 1832 , no amount of Tory money , Court favour , newspaper support , or oratorical appeals , could stay the auti-Tory torrent , or hold the Whigs from office . A succession of abuses spoke in language too powerful to admit of either doubt or defence . Every town poured forth its thousands of Whig backers , while not a tow offered smoking incense in condemnation of the unmanageable Tory tyrants . Every banner floated in the breeae . Every patriot was at his post , and the leaning of monarchy to the breaking reed seemed rather to weaken than strengthen the cause it professed to Fave . The nameof the King
Io 3 t its wonted magic , even with a people beyond all others enamoured of monarchy ; while the fervour of party , for the passing moment , induced some , ( we rejoice to say not many , ) to merge the Englishman ' s gallantry into the bad man ' s spleen . The King , then , was no one , or something less ; the Queen was some one , and something mart . In spite of all opposition , the "fiery Duke" was compelled to yield to the firing people . His very house , the Englishman ' s castle , was to him no sanctuary . His name , theretofore a lower of strength , loBt its magic in the siorm of " peace and retrenchment . "
All this was , of course , in anticipation of what the Reformers promised ; and , so courteous was public opinion , that even Irish coercion , as the very first instalment of English justice , and the New Poor Law , the first of Whig gratitude , were , of themselves , insufficient to change the strong tradewind , which had just then se * in in favour of genera ] Whig policy . Still , in the teeth of these isolated acts , as they were called , was the cry of " down with the Tories , " raised at every single election . " I am a Whig , " wa 3 the only passport to public confidence then required by candidates , either in single combat , or general conflict .
The first general election , the election of promise , gave the Minister » majority of two hundred in the House of Commons , the largest , as well as the most noisy , e * er remembered—a majority quite sufficient to bring the Peers to their senses , and to have proved ( had there been a real desire to purify the system , ) that the bottom of the well being at length cleansed , henceforth the surface would be clear . The intention , however , being transfer , and
not organic change , the Commons , in their strength , proposed only what the Lords could eontcientious ' y subscribe to . The lower House , through its leader , Lord John Russell , declared it prudent to avoid collision with the other branch of the Legislature , except upun some grand fundamental question . The Noble Lord and his party , however , allowed their fundamentals to pass unnoticed , although compelled to submit to daily kicks and insults , until , at length ,
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the timidity of the Commons emboldened the unreformed Lords , and made a stumbling-block , which , if takes in time , might have beon removed with a single breath . This truckling the people saw , bat were yet silent and hopeful , until , at the end of about two years , the Whigs were compelled to taste the bitter fruits from their own tree , by seeing the old enemy strong enough to take ofiice .
The elections of 1835 again gave courage to the Whigs ; and agaiD , in 1837 , the possession of the Queen ' s name by the party in power , backed by " exclusive dealing , " and French and Belgian policy poured into the young and confiding ear of a nation ' s Monarch in nursery taleB , gave the Whigs another majority . But again did tyranny and presumption break down what promise and confidence had built up , and from that hour to the present , the acts of the Whigs have been the most bloody upon
reoord ; and now wo ask , in 1841 , after sustaining a most disgraceful defeat , where is the enthusiasm—where the single WHIG CONFLAGRATION , so welcome in 1832—where the grand Glasgow , Birmingham , Wect Riding , Bristol , Nottingham , and all the other demonstrations of POPULAR WILL , then thought worthy of Ministerial courtship ! Whtre are they ! Where is the magic of that young and endearing name , so fondly chemhed and so successfully used as a spell to conjure up support but four short years back !
In 1832 the Queen was told that she was a German . The people may now retort and say that the present lady has married a German pauper , to whom the skina-flint Whigs would hare given £ 50 , 000 instead of £ 30 , 000 a-year . Where , we ask , is the ma / no of that name now 1 This brings us to the grand question . We are told that it ib in reserve , and that the old story , " Stand by me , and I'll stand by you , " is very current . Again we counsel Lord Melbourne against a repetition of this child ' s play , and , though reluctantly , the very Club announcement of the scheme , which is an ominous precursor of events , compels us to offer an observation or two upon the danger of such a course .
When anything like justice has been done to the English people , they have shown no disposition to quarrel with the maxim , " The King can do no wrong . " In fact , anxious to respect royalty and an English monarch , they Lave been more servile upon this point than upon any other . But the moment that a monarch assumes a power unknown to the Constitution , and not frequently practised in darker ages , that moment will the people turn all thought from the Commons to the Minister and the Monarch . Let us then see how matters just now stand . And the Queen being once before paraded as a shield for Whiggery , aad the country being again threatened with such an obstaole to the publio will , we are most reluctantly compelled to enter into some consideration upon the subject .
The Queen , then , though young , has , as the Executive , witnessed , unmoved , more inequality of law ; more injustice to her subjects ; more unjust persecution of her people ; more affliction among the working classes of her own sex ; more degradation oj females ; more ministerial , domestic , and colonial profligacy ; more popular dissatisfaction and discontent than has ever existed in England heretofore . Hence , she must , if she now allow herself to be tampered with by a profligate Prime Minister , bear the reproach of all these sufferings , which the people would most cheerfully hold her guiltless of . She cannot" run with the hare and hold with the
hound . " She must make her election between her people and her Minister . We must go further . If such a latitude were allowed to a monarch , what difference is there between Euch a fctate of things and a perfect despotism ! Nay , has not the practice , as far as it has gone , subjected this country to a perfect military despotism I Has it not rendered trial by jury a farce—the poor man ' s relief-house a place of degradation—the old man ' s alms house a charnel-houseevery prison an inquisition—every policeman an inquisitor—every magistrate a tyrant , and every official a dictator !
Having stated some of the acts , with which any improper interference of the Queen will make her personally responsible , as the Executive , let us see whether or no there is not already too much representative power vested in an English monarch . As the Executive , he is supreme and sole ; has a power of life and death . As Peermaker , he has a power which has been , recently , most injudiciously and extensively used—a power of making Peers of the partisans of the minister in ofiice ; a right never
contemplated by the ancient constitution to be otherwise used than as a means of distinguishing the truly noble , without reference to political bias . In the House of Commons , no ministry deprived of the support of State paupers , royal servants , salaried officer * , ministerial commissioners , and secretly paid partisans , could hold offce , even upon the present franchise , for a single month , while the unrepresented , the most numerous and powerful party in the State , are oppressed by the Commons and not relieved by the Executive .
Thus we show that those two estates , over which the Monarch should have no controul , but over which the people should have all controul , must , as a mat ter of necessity , if once unfettered and freed from Royal trammels , appeal to the whole people , as the only means of holding office for a single season , while Court influence now makes them not only independent of public opinion , but actually presents the frightful anomaiy of a nation divided against itself . Upon the question of Royal interference , some very chuckle-headed ante-diluvian scribe write .-thus , in the Weekly Chronicle , under the head : — " A DISSOLUTION— BUT WHEN ?'
" The Queen , in answer to an address for the removal of Ministers , lit carried , > might reply , that their resignation had been delayed solely for ttie purpose of enabling the country to come to a calm an i definitive conclusion upon the most important sutject ever suhmitUd to it . Who could gainsay Her 1 Who would dare to call the decision unconstitutional ? The object being not the miserable desire of prolonging official existence , but the wish to pve additional weight and deliberation t » the national will . " So jabbers the consummate fool who wrote the nonsense about " no miserable desire to prolong official existence" ( O I \ e Gods !) and " to give additional weight to national deliberation . " O 1 ye Gaols full of national deliberators !!!
But the Chronicle asks a question— " who would dare to call the decision unconsti utional ! " We weuld dare , and do dare , to do so—we call it unconstitutional . The Chronicle then draws some unfortunate precedents from the dark days of Pitt . Is it not , we may observe in passing , very strange that the Whigs are eternally compelled to draw all their precedeutu from Tory practice and " vice versa . " How i 3 tnis 1 But of precedents , we may observe that nothing can be more dangerous than a blind following of them . In fact , nothiBg more foolish than the custom oi
tollowing precedent . A good act requires no precedent , while no precedent can either boften or re concile a bad one . Tne Judge who preferred remaining shut up in his carriage when crossing a ford , preferred the chances of drowning to sitting upo <> the box with the ooachman , because the coachman when inviting his Lordship could furnish no precedent for a judge Bi . ting alongside his coachman , and his Lordship was constitutionally drowned , but had the honour of dying according to precedent . Acts of persona living without controul in barbarous clodhopping ages , wiil be found to luruiBh but sorry precedents for the government of our steam
population . Three or four of the Edwahds , and as many oi the Habry ' s , furnished Chakles with precedent * how to lose his head , and James how to lose hi * throne ; whereas , if Charles had followed tho-e precedents , which every passing bretze bore , he might have taken his head upon his shoulders to the grave , and would now have been an unmutikted
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royal mummy , snugly niched tip in Westminster Abbey , instead of being a vulgar headless trunk . Had he used the follies of his predecessors as beacons to point out the shoals which subsequent squalls and tides had thrown up in his stream of life , instead of using them as charts to direct him in his course , he would have been one of the beat , as he was one of the most amiable , of monarchs that ever wielded a sceptre ; but he lived by rule and died by precedent , and peace be with him . However , as the ghost of precedent has been
paraded , and as we look upon current publio opinion and passing acts to be the very best precedents which a monarch in doubt can follow , and inasmaoh as a second bed-chamber plot" is very likely to be tried , and as we feel convinced that a following of the precedent once successfully established may be most dangerous , if attempted to be followed , we beg , for the protection of the much-abused , ill-advised , and misinformed Queen , to submit the propriety of the following resolution being proposed at those " nmtional deliberations" to whioh the notorious host of the Chartists invited
them , and then persecuted them for attending : — " That wljiila we admit the maxim , ' The King can do no wrong , ' to be a just part of a just whole , yet do we deny the right of the monarch to continue a minister in office against the wish of the people , and a majority of the House of Common * , And , inasmuch as the present Administration is most obnoxious to the whole country , we respectfully , but firmly , beg to remonstrate with her Majesty upon the impropriety of interposing bad precedents , or royal will , against national opinion , for the mere purpose of being surrounded by the friends of her youth , and who have been tbe greatest enemies of our order . A nation taken once by surprise may tolerate , as experiment , that whioh it will not submit to as a precedent "
In another article upon the general question , we have entered fully into the state of parties , and their respective prospects , and shall close this with a recommendation to the Chartists to proceed onward in their anti-Whig course , while they keep steadily in view the certainty of a successful iBSue making them one of the two great political parties who must , henoeforth , contend for ascendancy . The Whigs , as leaders , are tyrants ; perhaps a short training in the sohool of adversity may make them useful and willing followers of better men than themselves .
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THIRTY SIX !!! OVER ! THE CASTER'S OUT !! Nat , not so , Mr . Groom Pouter , his Lordship will thave a " back-hand . " Dice ! Well , well , to be sure , was there ever in this " blessed world" such a set of cripples as our precious rulers , her Most Gracious Majesty ' s precious advisers ? We never knew such " gluttons" in the " ring , " even in the palmiest days of Belcher and Mkndoza . ; and , as for Tom Cuibb , he swears they are out and outers . Their motto is " s ' owmi * pas vaineu . " In the first round they have got a sickuer iu the sweet brea / h . " In the second they will get a finisher in the "bread
basket ; and , should they come up to the scratch again , the third is to be fought with Canadian battles . But Eastuope tells us that the little noble pigmy Lord , who has no objection to a torch and dagger agitation to insure his salary , will , as a last resource , throw himself upon the country . Now , we tell him flat and plump at once , that , if he dares it , the country will throw him noi back again , but into the dirt . He tried torch and dagger in 1832 , the smoke and the steel were then on the right side , but let him now beware of creating an exoitem ? nt whioh , if ouce raisod , will never be subdued till it exhaust itsolf in the
complete and entire annihilation of the order of the Noble Lord . Let " pot-walloping" agitators speak the language of intimidation . We sound a warning to tyrants , a caution to those who know not the deeprooted hatred which tho people bear to every thing Whig and Whiggish , throughout the length and breadth of the land . We warn them , we tell them that the " Pile " is raised , and to be cautious how they put the match to it ! If there is one feature more disgusting than another in tho new face which the Whigs would put upon deception , it will be found in the unblushing attempt to create an antislavery feeling , while they are actually trying to shuffle the pea from one thimble to another .
The culprits are still determined to be at it , and we imagine literally propose to snatch no small proportion of the quarter ' s salary out of the fire of a protracted debate . Well , no wonder they should die hard , for die they assuredly will , notwithstanding the powerful stimulants administered by the daily quacks , and the weekly sedatives so copiously recommended by the consulting physicians . Yet all , all cannot save them , they still want the St . John Long counterirritant— " The scratch in the back , '' whioh John Bull will by no means administer .
On Moudsy night , the confectioners literally fired an uninterrupted volley of " sugar-stick" at the euemy , without having once hit the mark , or being honoured with a shot in return . Nearly a dozen had the mortification to" Spout , and spout , and spout away , In one weak washey everlasting flood ; While each succeeding pump , which Up and down its awkward arm did sway , " had the mortification of lacking anything but the dry ground of his predecessor to spriukle with his watering pot .
While thus the war proceeds in calm inside , tho Chronicle " rides the storm" and " reaps the whirlwind" with the combined powers of " Great Jove " and " Rude Boreas . " A new chart of England is daily presented ; hamlets , never before dotted upon the surface of a parish map , are magnified by the modern geographers into townships , parishes , and wa pen takes . Io is not very long since a pawnbroker's back parlour was promoted to the style and diguity of a " DeLOu ; " a snuff shop received the distinction of a bazaar , and so taking was the fever of local distinction , that we knew an honest cobbler who gave the title of " menagerie" to a little cage nith a little sparrow in it .
The Chronicle ' s " demonstrations" are very laughable . We extract the following from the most * ' powerful" and recent : —
" CORN LAWS "GREAT PUBLIC MEETING . " The three tailors in Tooley-street had a powerful demonstration on Tu sday last , on behalf of her Majesty's MursLers . They mtt at their guild at twelve o ' clock , p it .. wiiKn Mr . Snip was unanimously appointed to the i hair . Mr . Goose was requested to act as Secretary , an < l Mr Cabbage as Treasurer . Spirited resolutions were unanimously carried , as also a vote of thanks to her Majesty's Ministers , after which the immense assembly retired to the Ho ' the Wall , ' to complete the business by signing a . numerous petition for cheap f « od and high wages . "
On Monday last , Sir Thomas Potter had his demonstration ; and , on Wednesday , perhaps , the must important meeting ever held in this country took place in the spacious nursery of the Princes Koyal , Buckingham Palace , Nurse Lilly ia the ciiatr . It would be vain to attempt any thing like a report of what we heard upon this stirring occasion . The speeches of the Baroness Lkhzgn , the Countesses of Noruanby and Listowel , produced bo powerful an rifecD upon the chair as literally to curdle the milk of the Royal Nurse , just as we hear of a whole dairy being soured by a sudJen shock of thunder . One passage from the sptiech of the learned Baroness is worthy of being printed in letters of gold . She said , " Mrs .
Chairwoman and my Ladies , I will not attempt to harrow up your feminine , your delicate , and too-^ u- xceptibin feelings , but can I allow the opportunity which now presents itself to pass!—( No , no , and clapping by the ladies . ) No , I should be a base mgrate , inaeed . Behold , then , ( said the Baroness , mining slowly aud majestically towards the cradle , in which the Princess Royal lay sweetly slumbering , ) b < hold , the lovely object of all our solicitude , the magio spell which has still more rlogely bound every Briton ' s heart to the royal mother . Behold the babe , whose first heavings we i ave witnessed , whose birth we watched , whose cradle wo rooked , whose lovtd form we have so oft caressed , and I ask you are you prepared to surrender such a charge into the hands of the friends
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of— ; but , no , no ; no mattery he shall be nameless . " ( Hero tho name of Cumbebland burst from all present , followed by long and load cries of " No , never . " ) It would be vain to attempt a description of the scene which followed , the Princess , as if oonscious that her dearest interests were at stake , literally sat up in the cradle and said " . NO , NO j MTO ! " . This fact has been authenticated to the Sun , upon authority on which our excellent contemporary assures us he can implicitly rely . Nurse Lilly came to her milk , as if by magic , at the sound of the voice of the Princess , and the demonstration proceeded to pass the following resolution ? , moved by the Baroness , and seconded by the Countess of Nobhanby : —
Resolved , " That Lord Melbourne be requested to stand by us as we have stood by him . " Carried unanimously . ¦¦ ¦¦ - ¦ ¦ .. ; .:. . Resolved , " That the Ministers who promise us ' sugar stick' and * buttered bun , ' are In every way entitled to our open and undisguised support " Resolved , -f ¦ ¦ . That we do hereby pledge ourselves to resist the introduction of Sir Robert Peel , and tbe Tories , by all the constitutional means in our power . " Carried unanimously . After which a council was held in the anti-room , and the demonstration peaceably separated .
Then follow the powerful demonstrations of Town Council men , mayors , and aldermen ; and then o private correspondents , and then of a meeting of repealers , at the "Coal-hole , " and then the Ward meetings , and then the opinions of the shop-boys of the provincial press , who know that their bread oomes from the baker , and their sugar from the grocer , and that ' s the extent of their knowledge ; and then comes the open column glossary ,
CORN LAWS AND COMMERCIAL REFORMS . " Our space is too limited to give any thing like a sketch of the enthusiasm which pervades all classes of society , and whioh is hourly becoming more and more manifest in all parts of the country , in aid of the great , the important , and statesman-like commercial reform , so nobly proposed by her Majesty ' s Government . " So much for the Chronicle .
Never was the weakness of a party so manifest as that of the Whigs in their present deplorable situation . A debate worthy of running into the . third week , and not a single hit made by a single friendly journal ; but , on the contrary , staggered , morning and evening , and knocked down weekly by their friends . The poor Chron ., the morning gun , looks for its old wadding to serve for a second shot . The Sun , the evening gun , has no powder even for a report ; while it actually gives us a sore throat to look upon the cold poultice of long primer , in stereotyped column .
The Globe " genteels it , " but says nothing either way . The Weekly Dispatch has astonished us by his ignorance of the whole subject . The Examiner fights wide of the principle , but dips deep in the sugar crock . Gbbville Bbookk is too much taken up with the "Rake ' s Progress" ' to read what others say upon the subject . George Henby Ward is obliged to fly to the shades of the great statesman , now no more , for precedent . Neddy Baines still sings his lamentations to the tune the old cow died of , and sounds his cracked horn like a huntsman , in the hope of collecting his scattered hounds after a hard day ' s run , but no one hears him , or harks to holloa , while the country
whelps keep yelping away to fill up the cry of the . leading dogs ; and , of the whole Whig press , the Spectator is left to pick the one bit of marrow from the bone for which the two hungry dogs are fighting . The Spectator makes the only point ., He says , " What is the charge of the Whigs against the Tories ? It is just this—that the Whigs say , although you oppose us , yet you are resolved , when in power , to perform what we now promise . " This , the Spectator most shrewdly observes is the true case , truly stated by the Whigs . The changes are necessary , and while the Whigs merely promise them , to insure a renewal of office , the Tories will perform them when they acquire power .
This is well put by the Spectator , and constitutes , in reality , the great , indeed the only difference . In the debate , it was something refreshing to find Mr . Duncohbe daring to mention the case of the white slaves , but he was afraid to put the saddle upon the right horse , and to tighten the girths . Now , the fact is , that the Manchester Guardian has just said it , — " it is a straw , " and by no means could " Ceres" have furnished a lighter one for a , heavy breeza . Ic is a straw , and is so very light that had any other been tossed up , it would have had equal support .
Let us suppose the question to decide the fate of the Whigs had been , Is the devil black or is the devil white ? If the result was to be similar to that which is expected from the direction to which public opinion shall drive the present straw , we should have all the Bishops claiming acquaintance with the devil , and all the saints calling him their honourable friend ; each party swearing to a premature knowledge of the fact as to his Satanic Majesty's colour .
Of one thing the Whigs may be quite certain—If they come te the country , they had better "look out , " for , most assuredly , a rougher handling no set of feeding patriots ever yet got . A promise of sugar-stick and hot rolls will not be an antidote to remove years of lawless plunder , tyrannical away , and despotic oppression . The poor may be in their cold bastiles , but they will not be forgotten ; the rurals may be bottled up for the occasion , but John will draw the cork and let the spirit out ; the captive may ba sick , silent , dead ,
or at hard labour in his dungeon , but a fierce and terrific howl , a horrid noise , will ask where are they , and wherefore are they there ! Have you not asked for publio opinion before , and have you not filled the gaols , for two years , with men who violated no law and received the best of characters ? When the Tories wero in they transported for slight acts , but when they incarcerated for opinions , it was always from the higher classes they selected victims . You , too , have transported a greater number and for slighter offences than the Tories .
Give them Frost ! roar him in their ears , and Dorchester , and Glasgow , arid Birmingham . Give them a bellyfull of . Chartists , and no quarter . You have nothing to expect from them ; and when you have annihilated the enemy before you , then we shall rejoice in bringing the awkward squad of the metropolitan and provincial press gang up , in close column , to teach them how to storm a Tory breach , dislodge a Tory position , and to take a Tory garrison . Yes , that shall be our next work ; for let the Tories rest assured that public ooinion is now too strong to bo either Torified or Whiggified , and that we do not use them to beat the Whigs for love of them .
The Whigs have stated their desire to be an appeal to the national will , and yet wo find the Chartists , at publio meetings , as systematically insulted as ever . But , how have the mighty fallen ! Would tne fiery inflammable pressure without have borne a three weeks'debate within , in 1832 , without igniting ! No , truly ; but that whioh Bervedas a match in 1832 , is now but a wet blanket .
Chartists , if the Plague" Bhould attempt to effect their object by gold , and to bribe a single one of your leadf rs , take no excuse , suffer no apology to justify his sudden conversion , leave -that to the slaves of office , while we boast of our consistency . Down with the Bloodies ; take our word for it they are in the situation of bankrupts who would put their name to a promissory note to meet 8 sudden emergency . They are merely bidding lor a renewal of confidence , to betray it for seven long years . Better they should , as they will , be driven to a union with tho olden enemy—the Tory faction .
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They will unite before they surrender , but ey manoeuvre weakens them and strengthens u 3 vj have the choice to stand alone and conqner o h ! divided and perish . ' ' O'CoraoB has said to as , within this week " L ME LEAVE THIS CELL A COEPSE , BUT LET Ro PROMISE BK UADK TO SAYS MT L 1 FB . " Have at tk ! Bloodies : good Chartists ! .
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WILLIAMS , BINNS , AND THE CHARTISTS versus THE CORPORATION OF SUNDERT A * m AND THE WHOLE OF ' THEiiffl CLIQUE . * WHIG In our last we were only able to give a brief » count of the all-important victory gained or ' Tory trick and Whig polioy by our Sunderl *^ friends . The meeting of which we now speak was convened upon a requisition , signed by ninety-two of what an called respectable Whigs ; and a Dr . Bbown inti
absence of the Mayor , took the chair againat th ! vote of the meeting . However , the reception which he , otherwise much respected by the Chartists ex . perienced at their hands , fully proves . the foil * J even friends hoping longer to blindfold thewide . awake , " wild associates" of Chartism . Webav enoi room for his Whig palaver , but may say , in passinthat the wild-una made every point , hissed ererr thing that ought to have been hissed , heard eYerr " thing with respect that ought to command resp ect and " whewed" and whistled at all thai ' mauj music to make it at all passable . .
The Whigs moved a resolution of confidence in the ministers , and a Mr . Wright moved and a Mr Potts , an Atiorneyman , seconded , an anti-ministerial amendment ; and this brings us to ths cream of th « joke . Yes , the manner in which Williamgand Binns the very Castor and Pollux of Chartism in the North ' avoided Scylla wishout falling upon Charjbdig in ' their course , at once giveB the lie to the many charges of Toryism so freely made against our party .
In another part of our paper we give tin speeches of Binns and Williams , and every thin * else worth reporting of the meeting . They ara beautiful specimens of Chartist speeches , and when read , who will say that we are ill-behaved when in conflict ; here we have a pacificator compfoimnp that such \ i our training that a single wave of th « hand seats , silences and " uncaps" ns . But wherein consists the valae of the whole proceeding ! Why , in this—that it was not sufficient .
in the estimation of our friends , to be mere anti-Whig and chequered-Tory , but they were resolred to be " whole hog" Chartists , " bristlet and all . " ( We thank our South Shields friends for the happj term . ) Yes , youngsters might have been satisfied with the amendment , which would have damned ui effectually , but our young veterans were not to bj caught with chaff . This is the right course—this it the way to add strength to our party and dignity to bur cause . We can beat them both if we are but united .
In looking over the Morning Chronicle ' s lamentable catalogue of Whig meetings , we do not find any mention of Sunderland , Edinburgh , Stockport , Birmingham , and hundreds of others , but we do find , as a test of national will , a note from a correspon dent , informing the Chronicle of" a resolution passed by the Bethnal Green Auxiliary anti-Con Law Committee "—of a special meeting of the Manchester "TOWN COUNCIL " -of DEMONSTRATIONS at Southampton , attended by the Mayor and twelve others , and of DEMONSTRATIONS
at Belper , Acton , Torrington , Mostyn , Bingor , Carnarvon , Flint , Town Council proceedings at Edinburgh ; and he brings np the rear with an Irish rump of the real old Goat , Lord Chaelemont , and the hacks . Ab ! ah ! Alas ! sorry substitutes for the high-sounding Reform demonstrations . Bristol in flames— " Hdrbah for the Whigs . " Newcastle on fire— "Down with the Tories . " The Duke attacked , and compelled to fortify Apslef House— "Up with the people . " Glasgow Chen alive with people * The West Riding ammblei Nottingham aud thousands of others;—but , bah it ' s all bother ; we have them iiaw 1
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THE ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION . Neyee in our lives did we insert any prodaotion with half that pleasure which we derive from the publication of the above document . Let those who still doubt the march of intellect , compare tho address of the "bakers' dozen" in 1841 , withth * address of the General Convention in 1839 , and say , who can long resist such a torrent of impiorament .
It throws the whole of the former documents f « in the shade . It expresses well , in a oondensed form , what our usurpers have spent eight nights in mystifying . Yes , here you have the whole question , as far as regards the interests of the working man , and in the same view as we have repeatedly laid it before you . You will only be injured by the contemplated change . It will be found by our report of the proceeding in Convention , that the members have resolved themselves into a Committee to watoh , in faot , into a
corps of observation . Now , if they are necessary , and , in the language of the Gbeewacbe Chronicle , we say , " Who will dare to doubt Ui" let money be at once sent for their support . Let no time be lost . I Mr . O'Connor has already handed over all the funds I collected for the Convention ( £ 60 ) , aud the members I cannot live upon air . Let every locality send its-I mite without delay , and let every name be sent off by Sunday night ' s post , to be added to the National Petition . Let this be done at once , and no mistake . Their exertions deserve well of the country . UPi thenChartistssend your pence at once .
, , We understand the petition of 1841 will outnumber that of 1839 by as much as the address of thelaWer year outshines that of the former period . " Pi Chartists ! drink no beer this one night ; send it for the prisoner , the expatriated , and the cause , and m » y God bless the donor ! Wa are requested by our York friends to correct an error respecting the agnaturrs to the York petition , stated in our l « st to be 247 , while the numbers are l , 247 .-the « reMM I amount of signatures ever appended by the won ing men of York to any petition . I
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i + sjisrrr ' »»»—^^« ' ' ' ¦ ¦¦¦ H- ' DANIEL AND THE " MISCREANT I CHARTISTS . " I Thb report of the thrashing Dak received ** »• ¦ Crown and Anchor from the" miscreant Chartist * ¦ will be read with intense interest . As . to ¦; joining the physical-force or the moral-force ¦ Chartists , we beg to assure him that if he ^ ¦ down on his knee 3 and begged and prayed for ib * M remainder of his days , that not tea Chartists m | England would join him , believe him , or confide mm him . No , no ; his day is gone by ! ¦ . ^ ^ a ^_ . u ^ uMM ^ 4 > Mm )
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MR . O'CONNOR AND HIS ENEMIES . Wb have long abstained from saying even » * or < m upon the frightful persecution of which Mr . ° ' ^ * ° * H has been for years the victim , but which n » J recently shewn itself in colours too vivid to be mi * M taken . We now ask if there is one single '" j ^ Jj upon record of an imprisoned man being * /¦ to be thus attacked in his absence ? We ^ ^ l our possession docu ments and evidence to p _ j deep conspiracy against O'Connor , in . whio * fw ueop w uopiravy bk&iuou w v-vi > iw"j— fthBB
Brougham , Mr . Home , Mr . P ^ cfi . and mf ^^ J " new move , " have for years taken an ac »» PJJBnor is Mr . Wakley altogether ffee - . fron w tion . We need fay no more . We have »« ^^ once cautioned O ' Connor against his o ™* goir . tory polioy ; he has begun to feel its effect . ^ ever , it is more than disgusting to see ^ ^ comin g from the very parties , whom , ' wheni opp ^ O'Connor defended night and daJ" - ' ? '' JfreWd , out of- ' season . If this is to be the patrw * ' » com . we ahali very soon find patriotism » " „ # office
modiiy ; and yet , singular to say , ° f ^^ be was taw O ' Connor yesterday , and fle . stMf ° H tnt the i * never in better health and spirits , & 11 " wiU the able to smash as many ' more-oi inem- *» gWBd people leave all to one p \ an , while '" ^ jimaW lookitig on ? If so , we have sjad e a wtod » UtfS | ot English love of fair play . Ww » » JJ > otf | . -V . , n reply to two frrsh dander * which »« eiert . I preseLt number , wJl be read with » " »* " I
The Northern Star. Saturday, May 22, 1841.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , MAY 22 , 1841 .
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_ 4 THE NO R T H E B N S T A R . -. ' : ' . ' " . . - ¦ ¦ ¦ _;
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), May 22, 1841, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct856/page/4/
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