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- - - - » THE NORTHERN STAR, SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 1843.
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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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T : TO THE 6 BA 2 O > JUBY OF TBE COUNTY OT yy kyy ^ fR > TRGESTLEarES , — -The page of history will Tecord -with indignation a late transaction of yonxs . At Midsummer Assizes youToted a service of plate to Ihe officera of the "WieKow 'Vfiygp . , fer ibeir tx-xfionsin preserving She peace © I ycnr county ,. Before I animadvert on your « mu " nct > I * T » nTi take a abort review of some of those tensadaoas -which recommended these gentlemen -to y onr 5 taiitnde sad iavonx . 3 lBa inen of Kood , from the moment they entered the « rrice of the present Administration , { I cant say -that of their country ) fcresair that the high road to preferment , -was ± o srace through blood , to tea houses , immolate -victims moinatter-whefliBrjrailiy orjncocant ) ,
to support the system cf terror , perhaps upon the labs charge of ths basest of bh ^ bbitis or miscreants , called sn informer , < sr perhspa their oirn EnggesSon , plunge the dagBer into thehreast of hoary and ielpless age , and deprive , by fire and sword , nnmeross -wretched families ol the means of existence , and like their prot otypes , fee Woody CronryeQ and Bobsspierre , htmt lite in ! d leasts tor the maroons of Jamaica ) the objects of their Tengeance , -whose greatest crime is perhaps their being Irishmen , asd loving theb country Among the many erselSes practised by the efneers and priTates of this regiment , I shall ment ion some lew , ^ BFhichfor eaonBityli&ve not been exceeded by the most S 3 ngnwarj savsges that eTer disgraced htunaa
. A Lieutenant well-laiown'by the name of the Walking-yalloTra , ai the head of a party of the rsgiment , searched to a place called O-anderstown , in yonr county ; they irent to the fconse of an old maninsined Garrcll , ) of seremy years and upwards , and asked for arms , and hsviag promised protection and indemnity , the old man delivered up to this tBonster three guns , -which he no sooner receiTEd , than he Tci £ h his own hands shot the old ssan tbrongb theheart snd then ftafl Ms sons 4 two ycang men ; butchered ; bnrarf ^ "fl flfistroyed their leuse , corn , hay , and in shor t every property they possessed . The -wife and ch 3 d of one of the sons -were enclosed in the honse "when set fire to , and ¦ wonld haTelieen bnrnsu had not
one of the soldiers begged their lives troni the officer , 2 m £ on condition ih 3 t if the Hich ( -uifcg his o ^ sra 'wortls ) made the laast i ol&e' £ b . ey should £ h £ re Hie same fate as £ he rest of the fasJly . This "bloody transaction happened abent two o ' clock on Monday morning , tbe 19 Ui of June last . He then pressed a car , on -which the Ihrae dead bodies -wets thrcsu ; aad'from thence Trent to a Tillage eslled Iflj-vere . took inta , castody three men , named Henry Smith , John Smith , and Michael Murray , under pretence of their being United ImhsseB ; and having tied them to the car " oa irhich the mangled bodies of the Garrolls -were placed , they TPEte marched abect three miles , passing in the blood of thfcir murdered asighbonra , and at three o ' clock on
the same day irsre shot on the fair green of BaHyaiore ; and so universal irss the panic that a man conld not be procEred to inter the six dead bodies—the sad effice was obliged to be done by woiren . The Lieutenant , on tbe morning of -jin * deliberate and sanguinary murder , in--fited several gentlemen to stay and see -shst he called partridge shooting . It may not be improper to remark , tkat Lord Oxmauto'sni remonstrated ¦ with the , officers on the jnonEtrons craelty of petting these men to death , ¦ who night , if tried by ths Iswb of their Eonntry , appear innocent . He begged and in treated to hare them sent to gael . and prosecu ted according to law ( if any proof conld be "brought agaxost them" ) , bnt bis hnmane efforts proTol fruitless—the men were murdered .
On the fair-day of Ballymore { 7 ih of June ) a poor man of irreproachable chax&cter , named Eeelfan , after seHicg his cow , iiad Ms hand extended to receirs the price oi her , when this Taliant soldier strack him wi ^ i his sword on the shoulder , and almost severed the arm from Ms body . A young mas named Hynes , a mason , passing through Iba fair , on iis -way home , " was attacked by this ferod < ras ssrage , and in the act of begging his life upon his knees , was cut down by the lieutenant ' s own hands , and ltft lying for dead . A clergyman , at the imminent laskof insMe , iew to the ficfen to administer the last consolation of leligicsn , ¦ shea three of the militia were ordered back , sztd to make use of BTBjgar phrase , made a riddle of his body ; ibs clergyman , however , escaped unhnrL Isb liEutenant , howerer , got Eomewhat ashamed of this business ; and , by way of apology for Ins condnct , alleged that somB stones onsre thrown , ttongh it is a notoriens fact that co snch thing happened . The clerk of Mi . Dillon , of BsHymahon , being in the fair transacting iis employer's business , was so maimed by this Taliant soldier and his party that his life was despaired cf . Sixteen persons ( -whose names I have earefnliy entered ) were so cut , maimed , and abu = td , that many of them are rendered miserable otg&ets for theTemsinder of their lives . So mnch far keeping the peace of the country . To create inhabitants for the hospital or the gtarra seems to be the favourite measure of tx&nq'uQEznig a uaiaon . A village called iloyvore was almdsl at the dead hour cf the night set on fire , under the direction of Captain q and the humane Lieutenant , and hnmed to file ground , except as houses . Captain O— ,
possessing a Ettls more humanity , seemed to fed Jot the unparalleled distress thereby occasioned ; while this modern IJero only laughed at the progress of the destmcti ? e slemeiit , and called his brother . omeer a chicken-hearted , fellow for his seeming compassion—for feeling a pang at the miseries he himself created , seeing cumbers of his fellow-creatures petrified with feoridt at Tiewing lhEir IHQe properties consumed , and afraid to make the least complaint , seeing that military execution was their ine - nta ¥ le fate should they make the least murmur . Good God ! 1 b this the way te make the Constitution revered or the GovErnment respected ? Sad Lord Xorth still lived and had ifie tsvjideace of Ma HaSesty , lit would never recommend the ptacUce of ihvse masuj-es io sore Irelcmd tehich iost America .
Hew gentlemen of ths jury , if these and such- like are ihe mentorions actiens , which have rendered the gentle-Eienof the Wicklow 3 iflitia so amiable in your eyes—1 blush for the country which ga ? e me birth ; and must declare that his Majesty has not greater enEmies <^ i « ti the men who would commit , or the men who abet and encourage Euchcrimes . What dojoa teschthe great mass of the people tobeliere by such conduct but thattfee coeicioa of s f oriegn eneay would "be mercy compared to " the grotr-OBS-effioristbejondaieiaw" iasthey-, sro called ) of our own military .
Sst , -gentlemen , lei 3 eb ask yon , would it not have been more decent and even complimentary to the objects cf yonr esteem had you made a collection amongst yourselves for this semce of plate , than to-attempt to saddle upon an Idjured county a tax for the remuneration oi murder , corfisgration and calamity ? Shall the * owners ol seat 500 houses destroyed by fire , and the relations of those victims sacrificed by those sanguinary instruments of oppression , he obliged to pay for ebnnities which will east an indelible stain -upon a county which could pro&Bce a Grand Jury capable of becoming accessories to such unheard of cruelties . £ ? £ , gentlemen , thoagh yon have Toted the tax , it is IVDtJEtiaiBed . bnl TS 3 H , I hope , bebaTersed frith fc&cS ¦^ yon may thereby have the satisfaction of purchasing out © f yonrown pockets , and affixing a motto suitable to ttie occasion , Written in blood and cemented by fire , ! Ehe wrath of heaven and ihe scourge of -mpn .
As yon dontseem to be well acquainted with the \ euly character of the objects of your regard , I shall take : leare to insert aa address very difiereat from yours to ' those gBntlemen—Copied from the BtibHs Evening P + st ,, and-dated 28 th May , 1535 : — To inch of the OFFICERS of hi * Ma jests * s WICK-: 1 OW BEC 1 HE 5 T of MILITIA , as authorized the insertion of the following chef D ' tEETREof vii and decency in the Slrabaxe Journal , of 20 th of ] April , 17 S 5 : — i " Wanted for the service of the officers who compose ' ] i f
the mess of his Majesty ' s Wicklow Begimeut of Militia ,: 3 WECVE BEATJTEFUL GIB 1 S , who have not inha- i tiled the townof Stobaae , since the 5 th of April , 1791 . ] As wage ia "by no means the objaci , it is expected that Bone will apply who do not produce a certificate , signed j by eight respectable "matrons , of their having their J " VTKTOE , 3 > tjke snd "CBSUJirED . Ho-girl will answer I above the age of 18 or under that of 14 . —Application j to bs made to the jegimental matron , Mrs . Catherinfe Smyth , Bowling Green , Etrabane . —N . B . —Growing girls of the age of 13 , if approved of , and highly recom- mended may possibly be taken . " I j I l
Away ! no -woman could descend so low 1 A skipping , dancing , worthless tribe you are ; Pit only for yourselves—yoa herd together ; And when the circling glass warms your Tain hearts , Tou talk of beauties that you never saw , -. And fancy raptures that yon never knew . Tooblast the fair with lies , because they scorn job , j Hate yon like age , like ugliness , and impotence I j Bather than make yon blest , they would die Virgins , And aVqp the propagation of mankind . Polite and Gallant Gentlemen , —As a native of the town of Strabane , I shall make no apology for thus ; offering to your notice a few strictereB on the above ; wanton and unprecedented outrare to the feelings of a J |
nspect&hle community . And this I mean to do , with j BH the honest freedom of a miad indignant at the bra- i t * 12 yof men—who conld ao far forget the digniQr of 1 iiieir aature , as towing a ^ asteroly shift at that lumonr , which it should be their chief prids to defend —4 o aim a cowardly ilow at the happiness of that sex , to protect whom from insult , they should , were it xeeessary , form a Mmpari of flieir hdS ^ B . Prey , je tntsty ignardiani of oar -venerated eoast&naon and aacred religion , whish of the heroes of the Grecian o > Soman Gommonweslths , do ye propose to yourselves as modelBl In what page of the history of those celejaafcedTffl tiDns , have you discovered th&tiids metito-¦ rions to blight the characteM of '' God's fairest
creafion ?^ j Tfin exDlaln to yon the mofires of your condnct : jnotives , -which eren yonr baseness win blush at , and meacnesH disewn . ItTfSS from a principle of sordid and Tinmanly levenge , lox not btinginvited to the tables cf tfceriSixass of StratanB , that yoa endeavoured , by BcandaloHs insumations , to snlly the virtae of firea ¦ wiTES snd ^ snghteJS , -rirtae , oveTWhich , neither yonr peiKaial Ecryonr : MeBectni ! chaims , enabled yon to triumph . Imagine not fiat a red coat can mfctamorjteidovra into a Socsras , a Ther ^ ies jnto n Adojua-gKo ; like gorgeoBfl atppjnp bp » h » » 8 Bj «
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serves bnt to render elemental meanness still more contemptible . < Well indeed has it l « en said , " that the age of chivalry is gone . " Scarcely does it admit of belief , that at the close of the eighteenth ceutury , men bearing his Majesty ' s Commission , should have substituted the obscene manners of the stews for the gentlemanly conduct which ever characterises the true soldier . I here take my leave of you—trusting that I hava infixed on yon such a fronUfit of infamy , as cannot fail to insure yon a cordial reception from the inhabitants of the next town that shall experience the blessing of your protection . 2 have the honour to be , Gentlemen , Tour most obedient , humble Bervant , Thomas Sinclair . 2 Sth May , 1795 , No . 8 , Trinity-place , Dublin .
I shall now take leave of yon for the present , trusting that yon are or will become ashamed of yonr conduct The avenging hand of God has struck one of the principal springs which heretofore set you in motion , he was called like the tyrant of Russia before that tribunal where no ascendancy will prevail , but -that of virtue , truth , and justice . A Freeholder of Westmeath .
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REPEAL OF THE UNION . As the agitation npon this subject progresses every new feature as it presents itself opens fresh sroand for conjecture . Is ever has been , and bo it er £ r will be , that questions of philosophy , of policy , or of morality , Trill have their sapportera and opponents ; the one urging on to success and the other breathing resistance and Tiostility . The larger and the more embracing the subject , the
greater will be the -variety of opinions on the respective ades . The magnitude then of the question of Repeal "will naturally lead to the conGSnsion that amongst its supporters are to be found classes , communities , and even individuals , who , though united in action , are by no means indnced to take part from the same canses , nor do they look for a similar result from the success of their undertaking . Before , then , we discus 3 the subject on its own merits , we are bound to consider in how far the question now at issue between the two
countries lsieheved of that political embarrassment in general bo fatal to the accomplishment of any great national object . The reader will Bee the great , the almost insurmountable difficulties by which we are surrounded in thus being called upon to caution and advise , to encourage and reason upon so large and all-important a snbject almost in a hreath . The rolling murmurs of a nation's voice following in rapid succession after the flash of a nation's mind are pealing , and each new shock would be well calculated to shake the nerve , or turn from his
purpose , the commentator who was unaccustomed to , or unacquainted with , the portions of which the jarring elements are composed . In the thunder we recognise the nation's voice , in the lightning which precedes it we recognise the nation ' s will ; and , from thi 3 idea , -we may gather the nation ' s strength . Of what avail however is strength , if ill directed Ii is then to the direction of thai strength , and to a consideratioa of what its united efforts , if virtuously used , may accomplish , that we shall direct the reader ' s ai'ention . "Were we to allow ourselves to
argue upon the problematical desires , motives , or intentions by which the Repealers ( or the several sections compri&ing the maia force ) are actuated , we should be doing the very thing which the disturbers , the political dissenters , the troublesome , the dissatisfied , and unquiet , desire , and such a course would be pre-eminently calculated to produce a result diametrically opposite to that which , by union , the real advocates of the measure earnestly 'desire to bring about . While , therefore , we shall contrast the condition of Ireland immediately antecedent to the act
of Union with her present condition while strnggliagfora Repeal of that measure , and although , in the contrast , much eausa for caution may he found , none for alarm need tsist . It will be seen thai at the former period the leaders in the cause of Irish liberty were strongly linked , and amicably bound with the English opposition , or the Fox party , and it may reasonably be inferred that that policy which wa 3 practised by the Whigs from 1796 to 1800 , with a view to their restoration to power , may be again resorted to by ithe same party
for a similar purpose . Here , then , we have in a sentence , boldly stated the one , the only , ghost which can haunt the mind of the timid , the only argument that can be used by the artfal and : the wily . We have shown it bnt to destroy it . There are several reasons , therefore , which tender tW parallel as to the respective times incomplete . From 1756 to 1800 Ireland had a Parliament , and from 3782 to that period , when the French Revolution affrighted " the great statesman now no more , " Ireland had progressed in domestic improvements , and great
national undertakings , as no country ever advanced before ; hence all the capabilities : for achieving national greatness were developed , and Ireland gave s practical proof to the world in those days , as Belgium has in later times , that is a nation . &he may be rich and powerful , while as a province she must be weak and impoverished . In those years preceding the Act of Union the English opposition were sincere in their advocacy of Ireland ' s rights ; they sought no Union at the expense of Irish interests , and , above all , did they deprecate
the means resorted to for the accomplishment of the object . At that time al » o the Irish people were degraded serfs , tillers of their own estates under alien landlords , looked upon by the jaundiced eye of the State as unchristian dogs . ' They were unenfranchised , or rather tantalized with the poor privilege of voting for the choice of their enemies ; for though the slaves had votes , yet those of their own religious and political creed were ineligible to sit in the Commons' House of Parliament . Under all these circumstances , then , it was not unlikely that
\ | a powerful Irish party , backed by the English opposition , Bhoald have considered the difference between a Whig Ministry pledged to Catholic emancipation , and a Tory Ministry bent upon resisting it , a motive sufficiently strong to arouse a great national feeling in favour of the Fox and FrrzwiLLiAH party . At the period of which we write Ireland might be said to be wholly destitute of any national mind . Her councils were directed by those who sought objects whicb > were represented to
j ! J | > ' ¦ I the people as likely to be beneficial ; but behind ' ihose great advantages , which were placed in the j foreground , it was easy to rec < % nise the real object of the promoters of dissatisfaction ;; and , although Catholics Emancipation may have been used as the rallying standard fer discontent , and although the foil length portrait of Irish liberty was always , placed foremost in the gronpiug , yet was it impossii ble to conceal from view the bust of a Fox or
Chablxhont representing some private interest , or party anticipation . Now , how different tie state of the respective parties ; Ireland had faB four years of torture , persecution , cruelty , and murder , before the Union while , since that event , she has had forty-three years of unremitting and unmitigated suffering and sorrow . She is sow a nation of soberminded Irishmen , who can no logger be juggled
by the fascinations or promisee of jibe English oppositiom , who have registered their determination in vows as strong and deadly as are those of the Tories to preserve the contract even to the death . It is true that an antidote was promised with the poison , and was administered in four years after in the shape of an " Anas Bill , " which , if sot as degrading to blacksmiths , was equally calculated and as much intended to deprive the Irish people of the means of defence as the one now before Parliament
and yet this Bill was brought in by the present opposition , and not complained of by the Irish people . We throw this out , not as a taunt to the leaders of the Irish , hut to exhibit it as one instance of the incapacity of sections , parties , or individuals , to make the Repeal question NOW a means of MEtoring the Whigs to
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power . Indeed the English Chartists who have suffered grievously at the hands of thai annihilated faction have not been more lavish in their abuse of them than Mr . O'Connell has recently been . How then , we asi » can any man give him credit for shrewdness , Bagacity , and foresight , and , at the same time charge him with making the repeal agitation subservientjfor Whig purposes ! But for a moment supposing such intention to be even possible , what
would be the result of the experiment ! Why naturally the first step in that diraotion would be his last move on the political stage . The sober mind of Ireland can see more clearly than in her intoxication i-he was wont to do . In her calm reflection she can ponder : upon her wretchedness , ' while her sober mind imbibes those stinging truths so continuously fnBtilled by her leaders and whereby she learns that to be free her sons must be united ; and to be great she must be independent .
Englishmen , though often deceived , have so fond an affection for Ireland and their Irish brethren , that they have already spoken , without recollection of the past j—and are they to form no Bection in this great imperial movement ? Is any politician bo blind as not to see , go senseless as not to understand , that without the cooperation of the English working olasses the English Minister would be able to crush the Repeal agitation at will ; while , with their assignee , no power at the disposal of the strong Government can successfully resist the onward march of freedom in
Ireland ? ; It is true that the mere Whigs of the present day would direct the Irish mind to those paltry pursuits to which , from 1796 to 18 ilO , the same party bnt too successfully directed it before . Upan the recall of Earl Fitzwilliam and the appointment of his successor Earl Caiiden , the Irish mind was roused to a Etate of frenzy not unjustified by the cruel and bloody deeds and exterminating policy of the latter : viceroy . Bat now how unfortunate , instead of being able to boast of a system of good
national policy , the Whigs , while in opposition , can but point attention to the manner in which the favoured few were promoted and aggrandizad at the expense of the injured many . But upon the other hand if a Tory attempt is made to degrade the Irish people to the rank of slaves by depriving them of those arms whioh by the Bill of Rights they are entitled to possess , Whig opposition is silenced or rendered puerile and captious by being reminded of their own Bill of 1838 , framed with a similar intent . Must not then the Irish
people have learned that lesson which the English Chartists have long since learned—that if their work is to be done , it must be done by themselves , for themselves . We do not stop to answer , or even to comment upon , the hair-splitting philosophy of the Times upon the Repeal of the Union . We leave that immaculate print in full possession of all that consolation which it can derive from the registered determination of Archbishop Mubray to flounder on the top of the Saxon muddle , rather than join in the restoration of his country ' s rights , by just
remarking that ' one swallow does not make a summer , " neither does one Archbishop make a nation . In answer to those who would urge even the possibility of a halt for Whig purposes , wo would say look to the broad sheet of Irish mind , which we lay before you . Think of the wrongs that that gallant country has endured . Reflect upon the little hope which the leaders hold out from the restoration of Whiggery , and from the great advantages which are described as likely to follow the acquisition of : her independence . Look again to the monies subscribed , to the vows registered , to the
planB propounded , to the feelings enlisted , to the different sections invited for the accomplishment of this great national object , and , then let any man ask himself where can it stop short , even by an inch , of the promised goal ? Will Ireland again relapse into stupor ! Will she again recognise her full measure of justice in the religion of a placeman , a policeman , < or a judge ? Will her people crawl in their sea-bound dungeon in manacles , that a chosen few may beard the oppressor with hard words ? No ! the days of Irish folly have passed away and the light of Irish reason tells the Irish oppressor that
the days of his greatness are numbered . It is for these Teasons that wa look upon the progress as a more than mere Irish question , more than an imperial question , a universal question . What can so humble th&crest of the haughty English Oligarchy as the fact of its "bridle arm" being cut off ? what can so humiliate the Protestant Church as the fact of its being deprived of its iw whip hand V Will the qaerelous politician point out to ks any one means by which the power of the people could be more clearly developed and more profitably brought into action , than bj the
accomplisment of the present object of the Repealers ? Will any man say , or for a moment suppose , that the Irish people ( in the event of the Union being Repealed by the English Parliament ) would allow an Irish Parliament to be called together upon any other principle than that of Universal Suffrage ! The man who thinks bo must have but a poor opinion of what the present popular mind , in the hour of , triumph , -would demand as a complete measure of justice , and as a means of preserving it . We are aware —perfectly aware—of the great and mighty influences , both foreign and domestic , which will be
forced into operation for the suppression of this national movement . The mind will be fretted and irritated by surmise , calculations , and reports . The union of all opposing influences to hope for eren a suspension or delay , must be as complete as the union of the Irish people appears to be for the accomplishment of the measure . Let us see then whether or no we have any right to expect that such a union can be formed out of the conflicting elements of opposition . The Queen being nothing , we
naturally leave her out of the question . In the Lords is embodied the Oligarchy in its united character of Church and State , where the rents and privileges of the Lords Temporal are protected by the Lords Spiritual , upon the understanding tha * . the Lords Temporal shall protect the first fruits and the tenth frnits for their Spiritual brethren , so that at all times they may epjoy them . In the Prime Minister wo find the most perfect embodiment of administration apart from the Oligarohy , and to this point under ordinary circumstances we should look as the mirror in which
would be reflected the Tria juncta in Vno , the Oligarchy , the Church , and the State . In the present agitation , however , we discover much to cause dissension and disunion amongst those heretofore united parties . We speak of men as machines , and without fear . And while we deprecate tho policy of a party , we shall enter without bias into an impartial consideration as to how far individual character would be likely to operate upon the general counoils of tho body .
Upon Sir Robert Pbel , then , as Prime Minister , the issue of the present struggle must much depend ; we shall therefore consider what are likely to be those influences which would operate upon him to resist or concede . The motives which might lead to resistance , would be a dread of outraging the domestic faction in Ireland , who we verity believe look fer another blood-letting , to be followed by another extermination of the Catholics and another , partition of the soil .
Upon the other band , the motives for concession will ba tbeae . Firstly , the chances if not the certainty ef defeat , and , secondly , we do not consider Sir Robert Pbel to be a cruel man , far from it . He is ambitious of fame , and in his calculations for its achieve inent he would make the existing state of the human mind his denominator , and from that he woifld learn that the time haB arrived when the triumph of a statesman saust consist in the subjugation of his passions and in a timely yielding to the-public will of such changes as can only be resisted by brute foree . If ; the struggle is allowed to progress peaceably , who for a moment can doubt the result ! while upon the : other hand , who but inuei shudder at the effeet which an onslaught upon the Irish people would b& ? e upon lue English uniiU , heightened and
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exaggerated as those accounts would moat probably be io the indignation of those hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic Irishmen now abiding amongst us , and whose every aspiration for the success of their countrymen at home would find a quick response from every English working man ' s breast . In truth it is time that Ireland should be a nation governed by Irish Laws , made by Irishmen , chosen by Irishmen , and for the benefit of the Irish people : and in this
hp ly struggle , God forbid that the country should be threatened with a recurrence of those scenes , an account of which now lies before U 3 , and which make our English cheeks blush while we peruse thein , and of which will be found a specimen in a letter published in our fourth page , from " A Freeholder of Westmeath , to the Grand Jury of that ; county . "
We ask the English reader carefully to read and calmly to reflect upon that letter . From that ho will learn the manner in which the Union was forced upon the Irish people , and from it he will gather the importance whioh the same faction attaches to a- continuance of this unholy bond , by which Irishmen are made slaves , and Foreigners their task-masters . From that he will learn the manner in which a love for the English Constitution has been stamped by the English law upon the Irishman ' s back , and branded upon the Irishman ' s cheek ; and how their offspring , who witnessed the tender mercies of this protective system , must have imbibed in childhood that love and regard so manifest in their present demand to be relieved from its
further operation . From that ho will learn , that in the dead of night the inuooent , the unoffending , and unsuspecting peasant , being first disarmed , was dragged from his bed , hnng at his own door , without even the formality or semblance of a mock triaj , while his cottage-was sot in flames , lest the darkness of night should spare the widowed mother and her frenzied orphans the torture of witnessing thejsad spectacle . We ask , then , whether Irishmen can ever have forgotten these things ? and nature and reason answer never ; for , though there is no trace of tho humble cot , and though the victim has ceased to breathe^—" Yet the blackness of ashes still marks whore it stood , Wnile the wild mother * : ecream'd o'er her famishing If brood . "
If , then , our English mind , after such a perusal , forbids our English hand , under our present feelings , to eich the portrait farther , what must be the feelings of Irishmen , against whose fathers , whose mothers , and whose country such acts were committed ? When we pause , it is high time that they should refleot . Wo cannot trust ourselves to say more than that precisely the same course which was pursued by Cast / . ereag « and his myrmidoms , for the purpose of effecting the Union , appears to be that which his successors are determined to follow . Then , as IlOW , A DISARMING BILL WAS THE FIRST BLOW .
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scarcely avoid the conclusion , either that the Government is , in every respect , worse served than private persons are , or ttat there is some complicity . If these blunders are as the law now stands inevitable , —if it is a stark impossibility to state , in the form of an indictment , with' sufficient precision to satisfy the judicial understandings of the judges , any accusation against a political " offender , by all means , in mercy to the community , let them ] be freed at once from the legal cobwebs in which they are enveloped : let a law at Once be enacted so simple that blunders will be impossible ; or , if that is homeless , give the Judges , under sufficient checks , the power of correcting mere technical errors .
If the fault resta ] nswe presume to bo the case , with some of the niinoif officials , let the blunderers be trusted no longer . But ivbate , ver be done , let the Government and tbeif legal advisera , in case the present indictment should be quashed for informality , take care to place themselves beyond the reach of suspicion as to their sffiotives , by havhjg fresh an <\ ( for © nee ) correctly drawn indictments preferred the instant that the decision of the Judges shall be made known . By this alone will they be able to alone to the country for the defaults of these whom they ! have trusted , and to prove that those defaults were neither directly nor indirectly sanctioned by themseivtjB . " "
Who will dare , after this , to hazard the displeasure of Goody Graudam Tempust by not imprisoning Chartists where I he wishes it ?! Seriously , if it was worth any body ' s while to be serious with the Times , we have never seen a . more impudent attempt to bully the judges than is here made t nor have we often seen an attack in which mendacity ,, or what " plain people" call lying , is more boldly brazened out . Nobody knows better than this hired hack of the real instigators of the strike , that" Feargus O'Connor and his associates '' did no such thing as " encourage'divers evil disposed persons' to assemble together and commit various
acts of violence , for the immediate purpose of putting a stop to work in tho manufacturing districts , and with the ulterior object of carrying their Charter . " We presumejthat the Times would in all probability class us with " the associates of Feargus O'Connor " : we havft reason to know that a copy of this paper is received by the Times every week ; the -Times is therefore perfectly aware of the part taken in the matter of the strike both by Fearoos O'Connor and " . his associates "); the Times knew therefore that in writing - ' this paragraph , he wrote a deliberate and wilful lie . He knew perfectly that the facts were directly in the teeth of his statement : that bo far
from" enoauraging those evil-disposed persons to " asseuw&r&nd commit various acts of violence , " we •/ iscouraged , openly and boldly , not only the " various acts of violence , " but also , under the circumstances , the " assemblies" in question , irrespective of all reference to violcneo ; that so far from connecting with the strike " the ulterior object of carrying the Chapter " , we from first to last denounced the strike as a treacherous display of impotence , got up by ; the enemies of the Charter . The Times knows perfectly that from the beginning " Feargus O'Connor and his associates" told the
Chartists that the strike was a trap for them , and that none but fools or knaves would lead them into it ; he knows that we have throughout maintained the same doctrine ; that we maintain it still , and , if wo needed confirmation of it , we have that confirmation , sufficient and abundant , in the ravings of the Times at the probability of our escaping from the trap after having been not led into it , but flung into it , by the combined power of fo 21 y , treachery , and ecg ^ rdige . To get the "law upon Feargcs
O'CofftfOR 'and his associates" was a matter of some moment to the vile money ^ faotion of which the j ITimes is an organ aud representative ; it was an object they had long , vainly but earnestly sought to compass ; and , to compass that object , T&EY planned the strike ; THEY carried out thestrike ; THEY hired myrmidons and emissaries to entrap the people , in the hope of so coming at " Feargus O'Connor and his associates , " and their emijsaribs—their mouthing myrmidons
—did so far succeed in dragging the suffering people ua , to their meshes , as " that Government found it necessary to employ troops for putting down the distui bances , and to send a special commission in order that the offenders might be brought to justice , " and " that , many scores of the poor dupes are now expiating ^ eir jeffences by undergoing the penalties of the law . ' ^ These are all " facts so notorious that no one canjentertain the remotest shadow of a doubt , upon them ; " and the unblushing Times , knowing these facts to be so , is most virt . uously indiga ' ant Iwith the judges , the lawyers , and the
Government , that they do not at once , like the Corn Law Repealing magistrates , who first * , ' had them in tow , " handle the pretext impudently , and without further ] regard to law or ceremony , stick " Fears u 3 O'Connor and his associates" into gaol ! Tho " free " - bboiing scamps , for whom the Times acts as " Drab" and " Squaller , " are absolutely wild at seeing their precious project likely ,: after all , to fail , because lawyers have some regard for the law , and judges some deference for justice . Let
the Times " bide a wee" : we are not to be dragged into any premature developements : likelier customers than the Tjmes have tried to bring us there and failed : we furnish no handle for enemies , wh e ther the Times , the Times' masters , or the Times'toolt : the argument is not ye % ver ; when it is , we may , perhaps , havej . our say upon that same " stopping of work in the manufacturing districts , " and on the " viliany" by wnich the Times and his masters have been enabled to connect with it the names of * Feak * qus Q ^ . o ^) R and his associates . "
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mischiefs which the indictment alleges to have been dona ; but that , afterwards" The said Feargus O'Connor , fcc , together with divers other evil disposed persons to the jurors afore said as yet unknown , did unlawfully , and j j . rl county aforesaid , aid , abet , assist , comfort , support and encourage the said evil disposed persons in this count first mentioned , to continue and persist in the said unlawful assemblings , threats , intimidatiooa and violence . " while , at the same time the indictment does not shew that these proceedings were persisted in at all t We are thus therefore clearly charged with aiding and abetting an offence which is not shewn to hare been committed .
Mr . Justice Patteson made the Attorney-General feet the "fix" that he was in , when he said : — " The count charges that the defendants aided and assisted the evil-disposed persons first mentioned to continue and persist in the said-uniawfa ] assemblings threats , intimidations and violence , but it does not aver that they did continue and persist therein Could you say , in an indictment for murder , that the prisoner aided and assisted A . B . in committing murder , without alleging that murder was com mitted ? " ° * And the only answer the Attorney-Generkl conld give to this was that : —
"He apprehended that if one man were charge d with aiding and assisting another to do a particular act , it must be presumed that the act itself had been done . " And with all deference to the ATTORNEy-GENE&tt ' s logic we must pronounce this " presumption" of his to be a monstrous assumption . If , when one man is charged with aiding and assisting another to do a particular act , it must be always presumed that tha
act itself has been done , it must follow that it is not necessary to enquire whether the act itself has been done or not ; and , then , it is quite clear that circumstantial evidence without any perjury or intentional injustice nrfght very easily lead to the conviction and punishment of parties for a supposed aiding and abetting of that which had never been done at all ; and even against the authority of the Attornei-General we venture to •* presume" that the hyr does not contemplate any such monstrosity .
The Solicitor-Genebal was a little more dexterous and disingenuous , but not a whit more successful , in bis dealing with the same subject . He said : — " The indictment did not , it was true , allege that these parties did persist and continue to do what they bad done , but it was unnecessary to make snch an averment . The offence committed by the defendants would have been the same whether tho 3 e parties persisted or not . "
Now , no one knew better than the Solicixos-General that " the offence committed by the defendants" had nothing to do with the matter . The question before the Court was not " the offence committed by the defendants" , but the validity of the indictment ; and the matter to be talked of , therefore was , not ' * the offence committed by the defendants" , but the offence charged in the indictment . The offence charged in the indictment was that of aiding and assisting these other parties to continue
and persist in the conduct described . Now , if these parties did not " continue and persist" in this conduct , it is clear that no one could aid and assist them in doing so ; and it is clear , therefore , that the indictment ought to shew that they did " continue aad persist" when it charges others with aiding and assisting them to do so . The indictment does not show this ; and we think it will require better logii than any the Crown has yet exhibited to satisfy the Judges that that objection has been answered .
In the matter of the fifth count , which is destitute of venue , the Attobnet-General tried to mako out that the venue in the margin was sufficient . But there was a stunner in the precedent of Minter Hart , cited by Mr . Dundas for the defendants in moving for the rule , and in which case : — " The indictment had the words London to wit ' in the margin , and the offence was charged to have been committed in the parish of St . Marylebow , without at all stating that , the offence was committed in Lofldon . It was held that this indictment was bad , and that the omission was not cured by the statute 7 th George IV . cap . 64 , sec . 20 . "
This the Attorney-General met by saying that : — " There , however , the objection was taken before verdict , and while the trial was going on . It was clear , therefore , that the facts did not apply to the present case . " A piece of " law" which is effectually " settled" by Mr . Justice Patteson ' s reply : — " The objection was taken after plea , and how can a prisoner take an objection to the indictment after pleading over , unless he moves in arrest of judgment \ When issue has once been joined , tho trial must go on to verdict . "
And , as a strengthener of this rejoinder of the Learned Judge , we find , in the Times of Monday , a report of the proceedings of the Queen ' s Bench in the matter of the Queen v . Norr , a Devonshire magistrate , who had been convioted at Exeter of administering an illegal oath , and whose objection to the indictment came , not only after verdict , but after sentence , and was yet admitted , and the judgment set aside on the objeotion that the indictment did not sufficiently set forth the offence charged .
The argument of the Solicitos-Gexsral upon this point was a mere repetition of that of tbe Attorney-General . We apprehend that the Counsel for defence , when they eome to reply , will have little difficulty iu showing that for all purposes of this count , a venne in the margin is no fen 00 at all . Whea the argument will bo resumed we know not , as we have not , at the time of writing this , received any further intelligence than that which our readers will find in tho report . But we think it probable that , if the CoansA for defence do their work as
well as we expect from them , both counts will be broken down . Meantime the people must remember that this further postponement will be a new drag on the funds . Counsel will have to be feed orer again , and all expence 3 begun de novo . They must not suffer the thing to be lost . They must " putt up . " We truly hope that this ia the last disgraceful " mess" of this kind they will suffer themselves to be dragged into ; but this they are in for , " and they must drag through it . Send up the money W John Cleave .
Since writing the above , we have learnt that Saturday ( this day ) is fixed by the Judges to hew the " reply" to the Crown ' s " argument . "
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TRADES' UNIONS . THE STRIKE IN SCOTLAND . As democrats , we honour principle above 8 H things ; and next the devotees of principle . Even if we dissent from the principle , seeing it conscientiously held , we admire tho consistency aad Boo ness whioh adheres to it " through thick and thin . We wish to see every man in possession of his own rights ; and , wliich holden without prejudice to others' rights , we commend every man the moWi the more tenaciously he maintains and defends them ; while , smrely , as democrats , we rejoice in every straggle for the maintainence of popular rights ana the repelling of the power of aggression . So detf are these-principles to us , that nothing wK * appertains or relates to them ; no proceediB p
carried on in their name can fail to exes' * our interest . Hence , though we have * as y « tr said not a word upon the subject , we have not bees unobservant of the struggle which has for a length of time agitate , - ad has ab last rent asunder , the National Church of Scotland ; rending more than 400 of its Ministers and Dignitaries at once boa its communion . Such an eV 9 nt is sure to ex&to great interest in the pabiio mind j the more esf «" cially when it appears , as in the present instancei to bo induced and pervaded by the inflexible adherence of a large body of learned and iijflaent : a » men , not merely to the high standard of princip le bus to the pure oue of democratic principle ; wien it srems to ba a Uold withstanding of individa * pvivifpge in defence of universal rigb . k But * $
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RAVINGS OF DISAPPOINTMENT . THE TIMES v . " FEARGUS O'CONNOR AND HIS ASSOCIATES . " Faction is ever impatient of authority , and reckless of legal trammels , when they impede the fulfilment of its purposes . Its contempt of justice rises , the moment its will is thwarted , and is manifested , moro or less plainly or covertly , as circumstances dictate . Sometimes , indeed , it shewB
Uself but slightly ;— good policy obtaining the advance of disappointment and impatience , and shewing the necessity of at least a shew of decent respect for the laws of its own creation—while , sometimes , on the other hand , fretfulness overcomes prudence , —the flimsy garment of adherence to the constituted order of things is rent , and the " cloven foot" dashed through , with a vehemence suited to its origin and consanguinity .
The factious and scandalously unfair , as well as wretchedly contemptible , proceedings now pending in the Court of Queen ' s Bench , —by which we , personally , and the Chartist public generally , have been robbed of a largo amount of money , and subjected to much indignity and inconvenience—have afforded opportunity for a most impudent display of its impatience under the restraints of law , and its anxiety for unbridled license , to the most profligate of all the organs and representatives of faction , The Times newspaper , whioh is absolutely furiousfoaming at-tho mouth—with rage , because the Judges of Queen ' s Bench pay less attention to the anticipation of its wishes than to their oaths . In his last Monday ' s " explosion" the " Thunderer " (! ) thus fulminates : —
" That Feargus O'Connor and his associates in Lancashire did , between the 1 st of August and the 1 st of Octjbber , last year , encourage ' divers evil disposed persons' to assemble and commit various acts of violence for the immediate purpose of putting a stop to work in tbe manufacturing districts , and with the ulterior object of carrying their Charter;—that their encouragement bad considerable effect , so far as that immediate purpose was concerned ;—that Government found it necessary to employ troops for putting down tbe disturbances , and to send a special commission in order thai the offenders might be brought to justice ;—that many scores of tbe poor dupes are now expiating their offences by undergoing the penalties of tbe law for their crimes . —are . we presume , facts so notorious , that no
one can entertain tbe remotest shadow of a doubt upon them , unless he happens to be one of the Justices of her Majesty ' s Court cf Queen ' s Bunch . Those Learned Judges , who , according to a solemn legal decision , are ' bound to take judicial notice tbata rump and dozen means 9 good dinner and plenty of port , ' ore it seems puazling their brains to ascertain whether ex not they are obliged ( judicially that is , and in accordance with their oaths of office , not individually as sensible men ^ to be in such a state of interminable doubt whether the riots took place in Lancashire or in France , or some other country quite ont of their jurisdiction , as that , after the minor fry have been convicted , and imprisoned or transported under sentiences delivered by themselves , they must let the principal offenders off scat free . " 1
'' Afterall tbe loss of property and life which has been sustained through the viliany of tbe Chartist leaders ; after the months of suffering entailed on the turnouts through having followed their advice ; after the parade of a special commission , with its thousands of pounds lavished on the law officers of the Crown , ia order to insure the conviction of the offenders , the melancholy spectacle is presented of a law as powerless to punish the rich guilty , as it was severe upon the inferior tools who could not purchase legal assistance—of | tbe course of justice being stopped where it was most of alt important that it should have free way ; and this merely through some trumpery slip of the pen which would have disgraced an attorney ' s clerk . "
"' Technical niceties' is the gentle phrase applied to these outrages on common sense by a recent Act of Parliament For our own parts , we are at a loss for an expression sufficiently strong to characterize their wickedness . " : Run , Betty , run ! and bring water , and an easy chair ; that your Mistress may faint comfortably If \ any one can bring us a finer sample of a city termagant raving herself hoarse , because the husband wont " 6 t » nd treat" to Whitechapel , or " stump the Browns" for Greenwich fair , we promise to endow him with all the honours of " the Thunderer " . '
But Goody " Thunderer" stops not here . With true woman-like comprehensiveness of anger , her explosion reaches all parties who can hear ' * the splash . " The understrappers of the Government law ofBoes , the Judges , the Government , and -the Legislature are all as bad as we ate , to permit this contumacy ; and thoy are enjoined most noisily forthwith to make such arrangements as may oblige Donald to " Come up and be banged , and no anger the laird " . She thus continues her hodge-podge objurgation of remonstrance , threatening and command : —
" Surely no pains ought to have been spared—no expense was—to insure the duo execution of the taw upon Feargus O'Connor and his associates ; and yet , to judge from what toek place in the Queen's Bench on Friday , the indictment against them is about to be placed id the same category with those which were preferred against the Monmouth Chartists , Lord Cardigan , the Sti Alban ' bribers , and many others who have within the last few years enjoyed an immunity which nottSiM
but official supmeness , or worse , could nave procured them . With the rembmbrance of the immense hills of costa which were paid on the last special commission , it -is hard for those out of m hose pockets the money caine toluuderstandhow fliws could be introduced into , or suffered to remain iu t ' j _ - iuUictuienta . W'hat do \\ xv law , officers of the CTJv . -n , and those who kutrn . 't them , consider « o be iteir duly ? Plain people , uneoauioured of 'technical nifties , ' and retnemittiiiuj ; ta tl&U cost buDiivy bvetits of tbe last few years , can
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THE ARGUMENT . From Jthe rajiDgs of the Times , we turn to the " pleadings * ' of ] the Attouney and the Sqlicitob-Genekal . And though there is , certainly , less of virulence and mendacity , we discover little more of " argument" in I the one than in the other . The Learned £ awyers were very evidently " bother'd " with their case . We have seldom seen a more lame attempt tfjleasoning than that exhibited by the Crown Lawyers ; and yet wo oonfess that we know not how it could have been mended ; ' tis not an easy business to prove black to be white , or to shew the connection of a non sequitur . The Attorney-General laboured long and hard ; but to our unsophisticated mind hia labour seemed vastly like that of a man who should
run after a hare—the more he laboured and . the more clearly hejseemed to be in the wrong . He first set forth , the averment of the fourth count , that : — M OnJ | b . e ls | day of Aug ., in the year aforesaid , and o # diver $ bther days and times between that day and the lsi day of October , in the year aforesaid , and at divers places , divers evil-disposed perton * unlawfully and tumulmously assembled together and by violence ! threats , and intimidations to divers
other persons being then peaceable subjects of this realm , forced the said last-mentioned subjects to leave their occupationsandemployments , and thereby impeded and stepped the labour employed is the lawful and peaceable carrying on , by divers ^ arge numbers of the subjeota of this realm , of cejtain trades , manufactures , and businesses , and thereby caused great confusion , terror , and alarm in the miada of the peaceable subjects of this realm . "
Now this averment no one denies or disputes ; although for all that appears upon the face of it the matters talked of might have happened in Canada or in the East Indies . But the facts are undisputed . There is no question that divers parties did go about at divers times , to divers places , and stop the ' mills , ^ - tbe only question is , whether " Feaugtjs O'Gotwoa and bis associates" had any hand ia this . The At-TOHjfEY-GEKERix does not contend that tbjey had any dire ^ hanfl ia it ; he does not say that they were present , < at , or took any part in , any one : of thes 8 "unlawful and tumultuous assemblies "; he does not attempt to show that they took any active part in the " violence , thrcatB , aud intimidations , " and in "the impeding and stopping of labour" apoken
of ; but he tries to make out that thoy were concerned ia it t « dtrect ! y ; that they aided and abetted —assisted a | jd encouraged—those other parties . Weil , what did they aid , and abet , and assist , and cncourSgfl 4 hem to do ?—the matters and thiDgs here chared against th > tn ? Not a bit of it : there is no such thing charged oa us ia the iadiotmeiit . We are jhargi . d in the ji . adicfrat . nt—« iot ¦ wii- h having _ ai cd ami itbiUrd . thbe " evil disposed persons" in tho
- - - - » The Northern Star, Saturday, June 3, 1843.
- - - - » THE NORTHERN STAR , SATURDAY , JUNE 3 , 1843 .
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4 THE NORTHERN STAR .
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Northern Star (1837-1852), June 3, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct936/page/4/
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