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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1843.
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PORTRAIT OF W. P. ROBERTS, ESQ.
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MANCHESTER DEMONSTRATION IN HONOUR OF T. & DUNCOMBE, ESQ.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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TO EB . JOHN HDD PBATT . 2 fa 2 » , vendmus . TtttUinegabimia . aul diferemvs redum vd JustiSam . ' Sir , Lest the exact duties of yonr office shenld not bare been set forth in ths commission under -which jon held it , I flavB thcnthtit proper to set forth the conditions npon "which , and upon which only , a people owe an ; allegiance to the reigning monarch ; and Sir , m it is a maxim that " the King can nio no ¦ wrong , " it is tot ts that high officer , bnt to those subordinates vfho ire placed in anthority under him , that the people are to look for the fulfilment of tha above conditions . Ton indeed have refused to "s ll , " by * denying * to us the power of evenpnrchaBing our right ; "while dressed in a little brief authority yon have endeavoured to recommend yourself to your master J > y insulting those for -whose benefit -we are told they govern and by whose labour they are supported . Ton hare not only "violated your duty Imt yon have done so intentionaTly . {
I have s letter now lying before me . in . wnlcb . ia tile following ; passage : " Tori . Sir , —I fear that your best endeavours to act lejrsUy "will bs frnstrated , ai Mr . Tidd Pratt , the certifying lexriBter , to "wkom your Plan of Organization snu 3 t be snbmitted , has declared in York , before it was published , that the Chartists expected him to certifytheir "Universal Jrnf&age schems , but that be would do no * nch thing . " Ton couldnot flim possibly have known "whether or not the plan to which you referred came within the pro--risions of the 10 of Geo . 1 Y , and i and 5 WilL IT ., and by the former of "Which your duties are pointed cut , and "nhich duties yon have sot only flagrantly . Imt intentionally violated . Indeed you have not only done so , but you have done so impertinently .
After having called twice at yonr effice , at which by the way , your attendance does not appear to be very panttai , and not havingfound yon upon either occasion , upon the invitation of your elerk I addressed a letter to you on Thursday last , merely requiring such Infor--mation as you are bound to glv ^ To this letter which was delivered by-y&nrcieii , at yon ? private residence , you have not thoaght proper to reply , which you were doubly called upon to do , in consequence of your inability from trifling indisposition to attend at your office . It is but right , Sir , lhat the public should know the trite and inaolsnt manner in which you have treated its application for powers to act under the strict provisions of the law . Ton have returned the printed rules ¦ with the following brier notice in the margin , without , u yon are bound by Act t > f Parliament to dOj fitting pointed out one single tenable objection . The following Is year notice : —
" Certificate refused . I am of opinion that the ojects ol this society , as stated in the rales are rot within the provisions of the 10 & ? o . 4 , c 56 , as amended by 4 and 6 W . 4 c -t . John Tidd Pratt , 35 th Sept . 1843 . " Soeb , Sir , Is the brief sammarj ef your supreme tr . ll and pleasure , in strict compliance with your expressed determination at York , and in direct violation of the Jaw which yon are bound to administer . Every consCtntional judge in the country has declared that there is noting illegal in the document entitled the People's Charter . The Attornej-Ganeral ^ as added the weight of bis opinion to this judicial declarationthai is , the Judges of the land and the Attorney- Ghaieral dechre that the people have a perfect right to contend for the enactment of the Six Points contained in the People ' s Charter , provided they do so legally .
Having procured this jn ^ gmsnt j » a very great rxpenea , several large towns in England aid 'Wales elected . delegates , to the number of thirty-one , to frame such rules and regulations for the furtherance of these principles , the legality of which had bem tins pronouneed i so that npas other than perfectly legal means should be resorted to for the accomplishment of their legal objeet . The delegate * devoted five whole day * to the formation of such a plan as vr » uld give to the projected society , that protection which ihsla-w guarantees ; however , when the result of their labours is submitted to yon , you presumptuously set yourself above the law , ami place yourself in direct opposition to tbe opinion of those judges who farther declared that there iras a legal way of contending fer our principles . 1 once wrote a leading article under the head
" A nation ouUaTred fey a faction . " ' That , sir , waaba ^ enough ; but for a naties to be first outlawed , and then insulted , by a subordinate official , is stiil worse . In my former leiter I told you that the Society Would cheerfully expunge any portions of the . Pion that were inconsistent with the law ; and I a » ked you , zs the act directs , to point out those parts which you refused to certify . But no , still hoping not only for indemnity bet for approval of jots conduct , yon throw B 3 upoa our appeal to Quarter Sessions against your unexplained relnsd . Be it sojir : to Quarter Sessions we will go ; and thence , if necessary , step by step until the delegates nfctti in proper iiroe again aaeenib } % in Irf > ndon , and carry their appeal to tbe foot of the Tfcrone , secempanied by & 11 who shall feel themselves insniud Isy being thus denied the protection oi taa law by one Whose duty it is to see it administered .
This ia so idle bout , Sir . We have annihilated one faction -who -persecuted us by appealing frem the law to the angry passions of a class , and we ara not going tamely to submit to that tyranny which would appeal from the law to an insolent dictator . It i » my opinion Sir , that you never read the rule * and otj ^ ctB that yqa refused to certify . Tuu have certified for Associations under nearly similar rales—certainly txcepting those which refer to U / iiversil Sqfroffe ; which however the Judges and tne Attomtsj-thintraJ liaveceiiLSisd for you .
In the Earns cfcontmeE sense Sir , did you hope that 2 To- 5 , Ballon-street . Picra / HMr- «*¦ **» *» - « l »«> oi jnsnce , and that ill . Tidd Pratt , certifying Barrister , ¦ was the monarch there enthroned ? Did you for » Sioment admit the notion that ycur refusal wonld paralyse the nation's energy , scatter all the elements of Union , and destroy all . the prospects entertained from the legal working of the national mind ? If such Sir . Was yonr notion , you have doubly erred ; firstly , in your poor « pinien cf the people ; an * Becondly , in your great opinion of yourself . This is cot the first or only occasion , Sir , wbera cut of evil good has oo » e ; and out of yonr tndeaver to crush our Association in its infancy will arise an amount of angry enquiry , as to the difference of opinion that exists between the Judges of the land and Mr . Tidd Pratt , certifying Barrister .
111 required any farther stimulus than that which has hitherto urged me on in support of those principles , the centending for which the Judges say is perfectly legal , your intolerant and overbearing conduct has fmnished that additional spur . Many men Sir , have unwittingly created Chartists ; it was Itft for yon to outstrip aD yonr predecessors in the good work . Sir , I shall rot only prosecute an appeal sgai&st your decision , bnt I will spare no expence in having an epinkm upon your wnduct , so that the country may know whether you are a servant to act upen your instruction * , or a mister before whose will all , even the law , must bend . 1 a . m , sir , your obedient servant . PeaBGUS O"Cos > 0 B , Treasurer to the Association . 14 , Conduit-rtreet , Sept 30 , 1813 .
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" -r "' " -r r ^^^^—^ w——a *^* w TO THE CHABTISTS OF XOTTI 2 CGHAM AND SOUTH DERBY . Bbotheb . Democrats , —On ^ unday , Stptembwthe 24 th , 1 proceeded frum J » ottinj ; haiB to lA / U ^ hborpusb i > y the quarter to seven o ' clock train a . m ., and arrived there by eight o ' clock . I immediattly sought the residence of ilr . Sutton , and found that gentlensan at home , who gave me a hearty reception , After breakfast we went to the hause of Mr . John Skevington , suit found him at home also . The old veteran in the guod cause received me very . kindly . About ene o ' clock p m , Mr . Sutton and myself left Loughborough for Forest Trmf :, near Ashby Road , where we fuuni several of tte friends : but owing tsthe placs sot beinj ? EentraUy
known , tbe meeting was sot to numerous as it otherwise would have been : however there were a tolerable lumber present In Hie evening I addressed a very large meeting in Sheepshead Market-place . I took for fiiy text that portion of the lord's prayer wherein It aays : " Give us tliij day oar daily bread . " Theandience of course were chiefly working people ^ md seemed to feel tbe foTce of my statem&nt inrefference to the paraons each Sunday praying for daDy bread for ths people , While at tbe saaae time they were upholding a system "Which was dsijy and hourly starving the producers of Wealth , and coBStqiientlj preventing Ujtm irosi getting any bread at all .
My good friends * f the blue botUs force were in attendance during the whola of the proceedings , and condescended to give their most serious attention to my discourse , for which , 1 assnre you , I was yerj ShankfuL The principal trade in Sheepsbead is frame "Workknitting . Tbtre axe beVweenifive and six thon «« nd Inhabitants in the above Tillage , who are , 1 am sorry Jo say , in a most wretched condition , in consequence cf tbe low rate of wages they receive Sot their labour ; tfal It gives me pleasure , on the otbsr hand , to inform Eiy brother Chartists throughout the country that the people ire a truly democratic n . ca .
While in Sbeepsbead , I had the happiness of meet-Ing , conversing with , and sharing the hospitality oi as geod a -CharBst , and I will add one of the best practieal agriculturalists , that 1 have ever met -with He took me through his cottage garden ; and I nevej w *» so astonished as when I saw his cabbage and onion beds , especially the latter . Be told me that hi had as mnch as eight ' strike of onions from 106 squaw oi lana 44
yards . xoere are , BS iquare yards in an » = re of land . Jfow , if he had bad one acre , and sowed It with onion seed , it would lisve jielded 39 d strike ; ssd suppedcg the onions were sold at 4 s . ths strike , and that weald be the -very lowest rate ; for , bear In
mind , onions this tune last year were sold at Is . the , gallon , which -sat a % th £ rats of S * . the strike ; the » hole amount would be £ 78 . Suppose again -that ha paid £ 6 as : rent for tbe torn , asd that is more than ia generally paid in Leicesterabire , especiallj 1 for forest land ; and suppose also that it took ibiiVy lowl tf mannre , at 5 i the load , £ 7 10 i , aad £ S for ** d ; these three items in tbe aggregate would \ be £ 15 10 s ; leaving him for his labour—net a year ' s labour , mark yon , nor fealf a yeax- ^ £ 6 i 10 s » He"feas"had as tuucd as fen imu of carrots off 1 .. 40 D Equaie yards , which he ¦ old for £ ib . It cost him £ 2 10 s ft * Tnsrura ; for rent , £ 1 IOsj aeed , 4 s ; altogether , £ ^ l * 3 ; ltsTing for ggfat weda libosz £ 20 lOi !
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Oj Monday night , 1 delivered a lecture in Loughborough Market-place on the land . The Secretaiy informed me that be had taken down the names of twenty-seven persons who intend becoming members under the New Plan of Organ ' zation . On Tuesday , I delivered a lecture in WhitwJck Market-place . The meeting was an excellent one . The ¦ working people are generally engaged in frameworkknitting and getting co 3 l ; but unfortunately , like all other places I have been in , steeped U tbe very lips in poverty . The poor colliers do not average above six shillings a week when they have full employment , which is not eften the case ; some of ths pits not working more than two or three days a * week . 1 wonld serionsly recommend to the delegates or Executive Council of the Colliers * Union to look to this quarter as soon as possible , and send a lecturer or two into the district , tfor it is a very large one ) , in order to establish societies .
Oa Wednesday night 1 delivered a lectnre in Kegworth "M&rket-plac& , on t > e land and the Charter . On Thursdaynight I delivered a lecture to ihe people of Hathome , in the open air , on the Land and the new plan of Organizition . Brothers , I remain , as usual , your servant and f « llow-woxker ia the vineyard of democracy , Christopheb Dotlk .
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Thk King op Hanover . —It has been said that the Sing of Hanover expressed biB readiness to furnish a large part of bis army for the defence of her- Majesty ' s United Kingdom , should rebellion break out in Ireland . —Naval and Military Gatiette £ If " the devil in Ernest" sends hiB imps to tha *• Green Isle , " they'll soon wish themselves back again . Why all Hanover would be but a xnonthful for the " boys" of the " gem . " Perhapa the " Grand Master" of the ** Orange Lodges" will need hia cutthroats at home very shortly , to protect his own " sacred" (?) person . ]
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Mr . O'CoNJiOB . has received communications from many districts in all of which a very great desire is txpressed to have a pobtbaii of Mr . Roberts , the people ' s Attorney-General . We cannot wonder that a strong wish should be entertained to possess a Likeness of so truly amiable , talented , and true a man ; and although we know that Mr . O'Connor had determined to givt no more Portraits , yet we ¦ have the pleasure to announce that all Subscribers for Three Mouths , will receive
A PORTRAIT OP W . P . ROBERTS , THE PEOPLES ATTORNEYGENERAL . We request the several Agents to open lists for the enrolling of names , as none but Subscribe ** will receive a plate . The price ef Paper and Plate when presented will be Sixpence ; and none will be Bold w ithout the paper .
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'arties intending to join tbe procession in honour of tbst distinguished patriot T . S . Dancombe , E q will have the kindness to observe the following regulations . The trades and country friends to assemble in Stevensot ' s-Fq ^ a ^ e , at ten o ' clock in the morning . The trades to take the precedence in tfee procession . The Chartists and other friendi not connected with the trades that are walking , are l
requested to meet at nine o ' cock , at tbe Carpenter's Hall , wfeere they will form into procession , and move from thence to the Square . Mr . Dancombe will arrive at the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway by the nine o ' clock train , where » deputation with a carriage will be in waiting foT him . The united bodies will move from tbe Square through Salford to the Crescent , where they will meet Mr . Dancombe , and then return through the principal streets in tbe town .
The Northern Star. Saturday, October 7, 1843.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , OCTOBER 7 , 1843 .
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THE LEAGUE ! TBE £ 50 , 000 IS DONE , A 2 TD THE CORMORANTS WANT "MOKE . " The League have , at last , produced their balancesheet . By it , it appears that the £ 50 , 000 is just about done . It is all swallowed up 1 Devil donbfc h 2 Tiiere are hungry men enongh about the League , to swallow np twice the amount ; and even " more" than that conld they get it . The particulars of expenditure that the Lesgue have furnished are very gknehal indeed . Tfl *» Te are no items ; no B 9 ttines-forth of how much Mr .
Cobdes has bad for travelling expenses ; or how much Johs Biughi has netted ; or how much Mr . J . R . R . Mooue has cost the confiding dnpea who havefonnd the cash- Nothing of this Bort is done ; nor are there any particulars of the hire given to the bnllying ^ Sidset £ mith ; the respfct&ble and erimoless James Aclaxd ; and all the hosts of inferior fry , who do the dirty work . O no ! The League are not goiag to 1 st their dnDea into those sorts of seerets . Their cnly business is to find the money ; it is the League ' s business to spend it ; and keep . the manner of expenditureSto themselves !
Their Balance sheet is truly unique . We venture tossy it 3 Tike was never'before seen . It is indeed a curiosity ; being of all impudent attempts npon ths forbearance of a choused people tbe mosj iajpadeat . It 13 worth preserving . Here it is : —
"THE LEAGUE FUND . "Total Amox ; st of Subscription Received , £ 50 . 290 J 4-. " The bead ? of pxp ^ nauure are as follow : — " Printing 5 , 026 , 000 Tracts , and Siamped Publications , and distributing the same—Lecturers ' Salaries , and Expences of hiring Rooms , Printing , &c , for 651 lectures—Expences of Deputations to 156 Meetings in Counties and Boronghs—Expences
of Agricnhnral Meetings , including Printing , Placarding , and Dis'ributing Keports , &c—Expences of Deputations to Boroughs on Parliamentary Registration—Expences of Weekly Mee'ing 3 of the Leagne , and Metropolhao Meetings—Rent , Tax ° s , Ga ? , and Office Expeuces , in London and Manchester—Advertising , including 426 , 000 Tracts in Magazines—Wages , Stamps , Postages , and Incidental Expences— Local Expences in Collecting tbe League Fui-d .
"Total Expenditure , £ 47 , 814 3-. 9 i . "Balascs of Cash is Hand . Sept . 9 , 1843 , £ 2476 10 a . 3 d . " The money ; the £ 50 , 000 , is just " exocuded . ' - And what have the payers got for it ? A " packet of tracts !' Nothing else ! John Bright in Parliament ! Anyelse ! The discovery of the truth— ( which the Chartists told them long ago)—that it was useless to hope tists toldtnem long ago)—that it was nseies 3 to nope
i * ot a " Repeal of the Corn Laws" from tbe prej sent "Housr ; " and therefore il would be folly to ! think of petitioning it any more \ And are these alj I the benefits that the £ 50 , 000 have purchased } Yes ; ! all the benefits to ihe payers ! Noi a jot more have | they got . With those who ^ have had their pickings ; out of the * ' Fund" itis quite another thing ! ! Have not the payers made rather a dear purchase I Have they not paid rather dear for their whistle ! i That , however , is their look out . If they are sati 3-' fied , we presume every one else will be , ! Bat the cormorants are not " satisfied / " The
handling of " thousands , " m a general way , with fingers clogged with bird-hme , is too lucrative a job to be given up all at once . " If the spooneys will bleed , why sh ould we not let them , " is the cry of all the money-takers , so accordingly they raise the cry for "MORE . " * Food being cheap , the ' gre&t mass of gulls will have H 3 KE to expend on moonshine : " so let u = wear them their penny . " MORE" therefore is yelped out by the solo-performer , or Covent Garden Stage - . | MORE , " " MORE" is thundered fonh in chorus I by all . tEe " company , " supernumeraries , and all ! I One Will Shakswsbs , who used to write plays | -that have sometimes been represented on Covent | Garden stage , says , something , somewhere , about ] an appetite that did gsow . on that it fed upoD . " i Will was right . There are such monstrosities in the
world . The Leagne appetite is a case in point . It was very keem ; but £ 50 , 000 would satisfy it . It has had the £ 50 , 000 : but bo far from the appetite being appeased , or the keen edge even taken off , it has GB . 0 WS to iw ^ ck its fobm eb size I i It now demands ^ £ 100 , 000 ' . !! If there are spoonies enow in the land , it "will ' get it ! £ » > # .
; r -Aid what is to be done with the money ! That ;! is , * what is there promised ! More tracts ! And the 1 ¦ ponfihase of seats in the House . " There is no hope |} from " the House" as it is now constituted : there-, I fore , no more petitioning ; but Rigistbation , and ithe SEATING of Free Trads M . P . ' s . Coice , j ihat is something !
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Bat what a revelation ! There is not likely to be a . Dissolution for fivb years to come ! There will therefore be no chance for the Leaguers purchasing seatB for five years ! And then they Trill have their work 1 They will have to purohasa one-half of the ] w honse . " M When the sky falls , m shall catch the laxka 1 " Had not the League better gulp all otJB polioy at
once ; and not take leaf after leaf oat of our book , by piecemeal ? Let them do the thing fully , with a good grace : swallow the whole : and go at once to make that House" what it ought to he ! This will be sooner done than purchasing one-half of a bad lot of Beat ? , rotten and corrupt as they are ! They might thus Eave £ 99 , 000 out of the £ 100 , 000 ; and get all that they ought to have into the bargain ! !
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THE ORGANIZATION . THE BARRISTER ' S REFUSAL TO CERTIFY . The matter of the certifying remains just where it was last week ; with the exception that a case has been laid before counsel , for opinion , which has not yet been returned . By the following address , it will be seen that every necessary step will be taken to en f orce the Enrolment . We can hare no doubt , but that tbe effort will be successful . Tidd Pratt does not mate the law : consequently , what he has certified , to be law to-day , cannot be against law to-morrow , the Jaw remaining nnohanged .
An idea ib started that , Tidi > Pratt is acting under instructions from Government . We do no ' believe anything of the sort . If we are to believe that he has received instructions in this CiSE , we must also believe that he received similar instructions in the case of the Rechabites , which body , we find , he treated just as he has treated our ' s . He refused to certify ; and though they wished him to point oat the obnoxious portions of their rules
and they would alter them so as to conform to law , still he would not do that which the Act which calls him into existence requires him to do . There can bo no reason to suppose that Government gave instructions in that case : and yet his treatment of that body was precisely similar to the treatment he has pursued towards us . Then , why assume that Government have interfered in our case ! Why multiply difficulties in our way ?
The refusal of Tii > d Pratt to certify , arises not , in our opinion , from Government interference , but from his own pig-lieudedness : and his desire to substitute his own / f £ / m ^ 5 , ihi 8 own disinclinations , and his own caprice fob laws . He has evidently mistaken his position . And we " must bear in mind that hitherto , he has done just as he liked ia his office ' He has hadnorsp-ou-the-knuckles administered . The
Reca bites did not comp : l him to perform hiB duty towards them , as they ought to have done . They put up with his insolence : and his assurance has increased . Had they administered the rod , as they ought to have dose , his conduct towards us would have been quite different from what it has been . He would have hesitated ere he had ventured again on tbe course that brought him into contact with tbb law . As i t is , we have to bring him to his
senees . Nor will this be a very hard job . There are not so many difficulties in the way as some people seem to imagine . At all events we see nose : and we are not inclined Xo \ fancy them , when they are not there . If we find them , we will try to remove them . But there is not much use ia conjuring them up to the mind ' s eye ; asd then , when we have overcome all obstacles , exclaim , " how very clever we have been" J Thero is not much senfe in that course . Let us take and meet the circumstances as they arise ; and not frighten ourselves with dreams !
It is true that Tibd Pratt signified , in York , his intention to refuse his Certificate , before the Plan was laid "before him . He there , also specified tbe part to which he ^ objected . That specification showed that his objection was purely a matter of feeling ; a personal distaste . That may be overcome , or obviated . At all events , of this we feel certain : that the enrolment of our Organization can be obtained ; and we think we may venture the assertion , that it teifl be obtained .
Meantime the people have plenty of work . They have all their preparations to make . They now have their meetings , with officers , and all other machinery for conducting the present business . They have , at least , such machinery as bus been in existence for the passed year . This will serve their purpose for the present ; and enable them to make all due arrangements for the formation of Branches , Classes , and Districts , when the Enrolment is obt&ined . They can get their lists of names ready .
They can subscribe their monies . They can talk over , as to who would be the best men for officers , under certain circumstances ; and the ; can make themselves fully ready for action , whenever the Plak is ready for them . This i 3 oub advice to the people : to go on , just as they are , for a little while : but be making all preparation for the chaDge . The breathing-time , if well improved , will invigorate for more energetic and determined efforts . Here is the address of the Executive , pro tern
;—M Fellow Ccustrvmen , —We feel Trgret at being obligated to inform you that with regard to the Enrolment we have bat little extra information to Rive ; we have laid the Plan of Organization before counsel , who nave not yet given us their decided opinion ; but on taking offiee on Monday we shall feel it to be our decided duty , as your duly appointed servants , to take the necessary steps to prosecute this mailer to a successful issue . We are determined that no efforts npoa our part shaJl be wanting to promote that sacred cause upon the success or iailure of which depends the happinesj of millions .
We are resolved not to permit the caprice of Tidd Pratt or any other Government hireling whoso interest is identified with the prolongation of misrule , to triumph over us without a vigorous and determined struggle ; and we cherish a confident Hope that it will eventuate in the enrolment of our Plan of Organization and consequently in the discomfLuse of the pettifogging Tidd Pratt . For further particulars on this subject , we refer you to Mr . O'Connor ' s letter ; meanwhile we must proceed * Onward' is the Chartist motto : the expediency
mongers aro in motion . Tho League is again promulgating its nostrums for national distress , and Ireland is nobly struggling for the establishment o * a democratic " principle . Up , then , fellow countrymen at once , with that virtuous determination and energy of purpose becoming men resolved upon achiering the liberty and fcappiness of their country , Phillip M'Grath , President . Fkar « us O'Cojwor . Treasurer . Thos . M . Whbklkb . Secretary . "
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REPEAL OF THE UNION . - AJas , poor country , Almost afraid to know itself . If there is one duty of a public journalist more pleasing than another , it is that of being able to review his own works with satisfaction , and to challenge the criticism of others with confidence . Since the commencement of the agitation for a Repeal of the Legislative Union , we have viewed the question solely upon tbe grounds of principle , without reference to those who were engaged in its accomplishmenS . Nay , we rather relaxed somewhat of our wonted severity , when canvassing the
modus operandi by which success was to be achieved . As soon aa a period was assigned to the struggle , we were the first to sink pa * t recollections , —and they were many and bitter , —in oblivion . We did this in the hope of gather » sg up the whole national mind into one volition for general action ; and were satisfied to be , for a time , the duped , rather than stand fac tioualy aloof , resting upon our fears and apprehensions . We -implored for Mr . O'Connell a fair trial ; we pointed oat the injustice and
imprudence of pushing him too hastily forward , or of too nicely canvassing those counter stratagems by which he might be compelled to meet the devices of the enemy . All to whom : the question of Repeal is interesting , have read our several commentaries upon the subject ; and while , as advocates for the measure , we promised and gave to it our very best sapport , wo also pledged ourselves for the faithful performance of our duty as censors , when we saw just cause for doubt or suspicion : doubt 3 , not the mere creation of our own unfounded suspicions , bat doubts engendered by the plain and unambiguous
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meaning of Mr . O'Comnell ' s own words . It was Hot to bMttpposed that we or the peojale would h » ve gone on blindly worebipping IJ ftigV prophet , after he bad declared his own incapacity , notwithstanding the means of fulfilment being multiplied in his hands a thousand fold beyond what he had a rational right to expect . We did hot Bearob'ngly pry into every apparent inconsistency of Mr . O'Connell ; or if we did look narrowly for materials for aftet comment and general review , we did not canvass hastily or factioualy . If beaten in any one of his movements , ; *
wo should have justified a counter move , rather than have held him jfjrjttoalty to the completion of hiB object by means of an ill or rashly conceived project . We looked to the bond ; and from it we took the conditions ; which were , that THIS WAS TO BE THE REPEAL YEAR . We farther learnedthatall appeals to Parliament were to bf abandoned ; and that under ' her Majesty's sign li »» Bu » i , the Irish Parliament , as if by magic , was to , rie * from its tomb in College Green . We have uafd that we did not hamper Mr . O'Connell ; and we may add that the Government , so far from impeding , has , as if thoroughly understanding the lengths to which
he would go , and the purposes for which he wonld go those lengths , appear not only by inactivity bnt by invitation , to have lured him on to his own quick undoing . ; He cannot then justify retreat or delay upon the necessity imposed upon him of changing his position to meet the enemy's attack . His oareer has not only been unopposed , but aided : and therefore thoBe confiding paupers and zealous patriots who were willing to hazard their little all upon the chances , or indeed the certainty , of a Repeal of tbe Union after a short campaign , are now justified in demanding why and wherefore the conditions of the bond have been
violated , and why another appeal is to be made tt the Saxon Parliament ! At a { ate meeting of tbe Repeal Association , Mr . O'Connell spoke as follows : — " He had received a petition from Enhisoorthy for Repeal ; but , of course * he could not present it , as the session was over . BUT WHEN PARLIAMENT REASSEMBLED , HE WOULD DEVOTE ONE OR TWO DAYS AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE SESSION
TO PRESENTING PETITIONS FOR REPEAL ' Is this , then , to be the Repeal year 9 when petitions for the Repeal are to be presented in the session of 1844 , and to a Saxon Parliament ,, too ! and with * out other hope or expectation than tbe mere creation of further strife and dissatisfaction , upon which the idle , the wily , the treacherous , and tbe trafficking , can Jive through another season of weakness and
credulity ! ' Having sold all the Repeal seats to Whigs—having denounced the very mention of Repeal during the last General Election , and having repudiated all hope of redress from the Saxon Parliament , does Mr . O'Connell hope to add additional proof of English indifference , when he himself has purged the House of Commons of all the Irish blood that would have backed the Irish in their doroand for justice 1
It must make the heart of the zealous sad , and the cheek of the valiant glow with the Mush of indignation , when contemplating the reckless manner in which the rights of Irishmen are " set" to auotion , and knocked down to the highest bidder . Already the worn-out figures are drest in tbe captivating ooatnme of office , to carry reflection from the thinking mind , to the fascinated eye . We read of the liberal corporators attending Repeal meetings , decked in their corporate buckram ; bedizened with the emblems of the conqueror , and shrouded in the ermiaed h&biliments that Ireland so nobly won from tho proud iuvader . What a triumph ! to see our patriots on the rath of Muliagbmast with cocked hats ,
velvet robes trimmed with ermine , and gold chains won at the expence of church money , paid by the Catholic voter ! Well indeed may those knighterrants in search of Irish liberty present a drum as fitting emblem of their noise and bluster , to their insulted Williamite brethren ! Well may they contend for the right of the Orangeman to hold his land free of ren t from the grantees of the Orange Prince ! Well may they eulogize the patriotism of Londonderry , and dignify their journals with a transcript of his letter ! The thing they hope will last their time ; but we are much deceived if the Irish people , with the Irish olergy at their head , will allow . all their triumphs to pass away in another appeal to the Saxon Parliament !!
Has Mr . O'ConnIll so sunk the oharaoter of man and gentleman , aa to design another visit to the Saxou Parliament , for no earthly purpose but that of standing up to receive the insult and vituperation of English lordlinga and aristocrats , to constitute a new stock in trade for another agitating campaign ! Can he hope to arouse a kind of sectional warfare , and to divert tho Irish mind from all thought of Repeal , to a consideration of the insult which he courts , and which he modidates a journey to receive ! Will this increased resistance upon the part of the Government be construed by him to the Irish
people as proof of the increasing hostility of their English brethren ; or will not his prostitute press tell the people that he sold the Irish nerve that would have strengthened his arm for the struggle , and would hare defended him , as it did before , against the insults of his opponents ! If tbe Saxon Parliament is to bo again resorted to , where was he , aud where was bis " truck" baronets , his stipendiary magistrates , and his sworn supporters , when the petition of 3 , 500 , 000 gallant Englishmen for a
Repeal of the Union was presented , by the bold and uncompromising Duncombe ! When the Right Honourable Gentleman shall present his petition from the- fighting men of Euniscorthy , will reference be made to the 3 , 500 , 000 English petitioners I No . The strength given by England to Ireland will bo thrown in the shade ; while her weakness , as opposed to the hostility of England , will be paraded by the West Britons as a justifiable reason for returning to tho instalment principle .
lii tho midst of all these disheartening circumstances , we have the one consolation that Dr < M'Halk and the Irish priesthood are not to be seduced from the path of virtue . No circumstance so fully demonstrates the eaal and attachment of the Roman Catholic Clergy to the cause of Repeal as the admitted fact , that they have cheerfully submitted to large reductions in their own hardlyearned dues , in order that their flocks may be the better able to contribute their quota to the cause of Repeal . We believe it to be an undeniable fact , that since the commencement of the present agitation a
vast number of these disinterested pastors have actually denied themselves the common necessaries of life , in order that the patriotism of their flocks should stand high upon the national roll . They have never lent their minda to the base subterfuge of diverting the national strugRlejto the mete restoration of the Whig party ! No : they are for the most part , if not altogether , the sons of the soil , as we gather from their Irish names ; they visit the squalid hovel of wretchedness ; they sit resignedly by the dying patient ' s bed unawed by infection , uurufnjd by tbe taunt of the oppressor .
They are Irish by blood , Irish in language , Irish in religion ; but " aliens" in the land of their birth . Their feelings are Irish , their flocks are Irish , their minds are Irish , their generosity , , their patriotiem , and their sympathy for their oppressed-and sufforing , charge , are all—all Irish ;—characteristics which will not allow them to submit to their own and their country's degradation . They look to Repeal as the means , not of enriching themselves ; but of enabling them the better to disoharge those duties
which as Christian ministers they are bound toperform . They are not appointed to the high and sacred office of pastor for their vices , or their subserviency to existing authority—they are nominated for their virtues and thoif devotion to their country , their flocks and thtir God . They are only rich in hope and grace . Their lives are simple—their manners mild—and their wants but few ; and few though they be , they have been made the more pressing b y the recent demands upon the poor contributors to their fru gal cemforts , for the means of achieving
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their fiouatry ' d freedom * It ia to these unassuming pairiotB , and not to the oferpaid braggadocios who refelopon the proceeds abstracted from their little hoards , that we look for the accomplishment of a Repeal of the Union . j Will they , we aBk , consent to this proposed procrastination ? Will they i be parties to placing Btumblingjblooks , in the otherwise unopposed course of the Irish people ? Will they tell them from the . _ ..
sacred altar that 1843 is not : to be the Repeal year 1 and that in 1844 another appeal is to be made to the Saxon Parliament ! We doubt it . But should they venture upon the hazardous experiment , we have still that reliance upon aa appeal to the sober mind of " United Irishmen" whioh buoys us up with the hope , that the days of mock patriotism are gone ! Delation has faded before the light of public opinion ; and to be honoured , its directors must be honest ! ;
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THE "COAL KINGS" AND THE FEMALE COLLIERS . So ! The exposure we have made of the trampling upon the law | by the Duke of Hamilton , in the employment of not less than sixty females in his Colliery works , at ReddiDg , has produced a " great sensation" at Falkiek ; and , at last , the Fiscal is beginning to move ! He had better ! He should have moved long ago . Whether he has had a ** poke in the ribs , " or not , from Si a James Ghaham , we have not the means of knowing : but if it be so , Sir James has done no more than his duty . We shall wait anxiously to hear the result of his moving . There is also a " stir" among the Carron Iron Company . The relation of it he fact that they have more than one { hundred females employed in their
coal-works ; and that the Magistrates , and Procurator-Fiscal , and the Sheriff , had refused to interfere and enforce the law ; the { relation of these facts , and the calling of the attention of Sir James Grau&k to them , has produced a commotion amongst the Carron Company of Iron men . In 'this case the " move" is a rf <; stard ly \ one ! The poor slaves of the pita arc to be made the scape-goats for the Carron Iron Company ! to ride away « pon ! " The compant do not employ the women . " •* The workmen do it ! " What « owardice ! Who do the pita belong to 1 Who pay ihje wages ! Who are the masters ? The Iron men ! orj " the workmen" ? The dastardl y ** move" will not serve the Company . It will shew their baseness , their unutterable baseness : but it will not help them out bf the mess .
It delights us to learn that the men are taking up this question in a proper manner , and with becoming spirit . The Duke and the Carron Iron Company had better " move" qaiokly ; { had better u move" the women out of their pits , and put men there : they had better take this step , and quickly , or they wilj have to figure before the Court , as breakers of the law ! The step determined on , by the men ef Falkirk , is just tbe right one . It cannot fail to have the law enforced . Their Memorial will bring the facts legitimately before Sir James Graham ; and then he must " move . " The Duke and Company had better look out . l
The following we take from a report of a meeting of Colliers at Faikirk . It behoves the Duke and the Carron Company to look at it : — " Mr . W . Daniells was now called upon to read an article from the Northern Stariot Sept . 33 rd , beaded ' Tbe Goal Kings and the Law , ? which gave nniversal s&ttafacttan ; and a vote of thanks wu given to tbe Editor for bis defence of the oppressed collier against
the high and mighty one * / It waa then carrier ! that a Memorial be drawn up , and sent to Sir James Graham , calling bis attention to the fact of the Duke of Hamilton and the Canon Iron Company employing females in their coal-pits ; and informing tha Home Secretary that neither the Fiscal . Sheriff , or Magistrates wonld interfere ' That Mr . W . Darnell * be requested to draw up the Memorial , and that R be signed by as many oolliera as possible 1 " .
That ' s the way ! Give a plain unvarnished statement oi facts : and attend well to the answer that Sir James Grahak returns . ' So much for the Scotch ] LAW BREAKERS . They claim our first attention , because there is a Duke amongst them ; an hereditary lawmaker ; a commissioned law administrator ; the head of the magistracy of a whole county , being the Lord Lieutenant , and , as such , the Q ueen ' s representative . A gang of law breakers , with suoh a man as this for head , or Captain , surely I ought to have
prcoedence in attention . Having bestowed that attention upon them , we now turn to England to have a sort of peep at tbe law breaking doings of the " Coal Kings" there . Last week we detailed the doings of Mr . Whallby , a Whig-Magistrate , at Wigsn , who has about twenty females working in his pits ; and also the doings of Mr . Preston , who has also females working in his pits . In these oases we exposed the manner in whioh these worthies attempt to gull the public , by hatting the females pressed vr in male attire !! Ihis week we have to record
more breaches of the- law , by Coal Kings . " If we go on , we shall have a pretty batch of them in a short time Let the reader ; and let Sir James Graham in particular , pay attention to the following : — " Sir , —Yoq may depend npon the following facts , for we can prove them to be trite . " Mr . Robert Lee , ef the Hodghead Colliery , near Bacup , has in his employment seven girls . Mr . Pilling , Hodghead Colliery , near Bacup , has four girls employed .
Mr . Buckstone , of tbe same place , employs two girls . James Lord , Trough Colliery , near Bacnp , employs two girls . Lord Deardean , Land Colliery , employs two girls . Mr . Townsend , of Bacup , employs five girls . And Mr . Haworth , of Coppy Nook Colliery , employs one girl . AH are employed in mining operations . •? We are . Sir , yours , " Daniel Thompson , JoHti Aim , " Two of tbe Agents of the Association . " Bacup , Oct . 3 rd , 1 S 43 . {
Here are names and places . Will Sir Jaurs Graham inquire 1 Will he give the Magistrates a nudge < Is it not time \ Whatever can be the reason of the silence of the Press , on this matter , with the Bingle exception of the Northern Star ? For weeks has tbe Slar kept the conduct of the Duke of Hamilton and the Carron Iron Company before ] the country ; and iv is adding to its list of LAW-BREAKERS every week . Yet not one single paper else , that we know of , has even touched the question ! Tiiere is not a week passes , but some paragraph or other is
extracted from the Star , andj sent " the round of the Press . " How happens it thai all mention of theae LAW-BREAKINGS have been so studiously foregone ! Why has Mother Goose not had a nibble / She tries to bite our heels every week : why has she not had a gobble here ! To say the least , this silence is most striking—most wanderfuly unanimous ! It is the more striking , when we call to mind the torrents of indignation poured out by this same Press , when , the Commissioners' Reports on the hardships of Colliers ? life , especially for females , first appeared . Not a League paper , nor a Tory paper , in the [ Kingdom but wept bottles of ink : aud " denunciation" Was the order of
tho day . The Weekly Chronicle was almost the first and the loudest at this sort of game : going to the expenoe of a page of engravings to bring the toils and hardships of the collier women and girls more vividly before the public . Where ia the Press now ; j now , that the iaw whioh the press eo unanimously hailed as a necessary and just measure of protection ; where is the Press now ; now that that 'aw is being continually broken ? Silent ! Where is the Wtekly Chronicle ! Silent ! The females are still subjected to the hardships he so pathetically and picloriaily described : yet he opens not his mouth 1 Why ; why is this 1 .
Will the Weekly Chronicle ] lend as his set of illustrations ? We mean his wood-cut representations of women dragging coal tuba , by chains passing from the waist between the legs ; of women carrying baskets of ooal upon ! their heads up the pit ladders ; and or women descending the ooal-pit , cross-legged upon the olut « hing-iron , along with men ! Will be lend us these-, His pictures of coalpit hardships npon femaiea 1 He aeecaa toba ?«
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banded over tbe collier women and their protection to us . At all events , he grossly neglects them . And as he makes no use of his ease , will he band it also over to us 1
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THE ROYAL CONGRESS-WHO IS THE PROPHET ? We contend that the prevention of an act , or the frustration of a scheme , by timely notice , equally establishes the character of a prophet , as if the identical circumstance , the occurrence ef which he foretold , had happened . For instance : if A pro phesied that the house of B would fall npon him , and smother him upon a certain night ; and if Bia consequence of the warning abandoned the house , and thereby saved his life , the fact Of B not being killed would by no means detract from A ' s character as a prophet .
What we are now going to do * is to defend oar own title against any charges to whioh the nonfnlfilment of our prophecy may subject us . We know that it is a very usual practice with many of oar c&-temporaries to foretell aot 3 after they have actually , from staleness , passed out of memory . Of this school of prophets there is none more celebrated than tha Honourable Member for Sheffield , whose extraordinary revelations in the Weekly Chronicle hare so often amused us . It is only bit by bit that we can learn the aots of Kings and their Ministers ; and we do assert that we augured aa extensive a piece of diplomacy oat of the Royal trip as was discovered in the celebrated shake of the celebrated head of the celebrated Lord Burleigh , in Sheridan ' s celebrated play of the celebrated critic ,
There is no doubt that the King of the Barricades had anticipated a very beneficial result from his snuggery with our fascinating little Queen ; and , from the usual secrecy observed upon all occasions by the wily old fox , we may naturally conclude that the . first fruits of this new confederacy would have been developed in some praotioal form . However , even the regal blow must now be preceded by all the usual forms that characterise the more vulgar
set to . We must have the usual amount of jaw ; of threat ; and of sparring : preliminaries for which , in kingly squabbles , we are to look to their bottleholders—the press . Already we have directed public attention to those awful manifestations announced through the several leading organs of France and England ; and we now torn to other continental journals , as well as to a portion of the Irish , press for confirmation of the fact that w «
were justified m the deductions we drew from the Royal meeting . Upon the subject of the Qeen ' s visit we foretold that it was the precursor of a Congress in which Louis Phillipe would play Spain against Ireland . In confirmation of this project , we submit the following ominous notices : — Important !—The " Congress of Kings . "—^ The Nuremburgh Correspondent of the 26 th ult .
announces , chat in the month of November next a Con-Carlists and Christinos , are to be represented at it . Martinez de la Rosa , Sancho , and Cortina will defend ihe interest of Queen Christina . Villafranca , Pantoza , and Alvarez de Toledo will indicate the means of effecting a reconciliation . The same journal adds , that the statement in tbe Madrid journals relative to the intervention of France is merely an allusion to tbe preliminaries of that Congress .
The Frankfort Journal declares that the German and -Eastern Powers have all made up their minds as to the marriage of a son of Don Carlos with the Queen of Spain , in order to preserve the principle of legitimacy , and abolish virtually the Salic law . It announces a Congress for this purpose , and adds , Don Carlos consents to the-marriage , provided his goo have the title of King , and not be merely the Queen's husband .
So far it will be seen that our prediction is strengthend by very influential foreign journals ; while oar further anticipations are thus oommented upon bythe 2 ) u £ / in World : *—" The state of Spain continues to be of absorbing interest . Torn by sanguinary factions , it is plunged into all the horrors and confusion of anarchy . The young Q teen , like a signet ring , is passed from one bloodstained hand to another , with as little regard and consideration as if she were indeed , an more than the inanimate symbol of power . What a spectacle to nations who already champ the bit , and strain the curb of monarchy ! Nor is the danger .
overlooked by the startled sovereigns of Europe . Republicanism must be crushed , and legitimacy established in Spain . That is the ultimate resolve ; and , accordingly , while the King ot the French amu 8 edtbe Majesty of Fn gland with caresses and cajolery , his promises and bribes ware paving the way for a French army ; across the Pyrenees . Nor is it likely now that English influence in the Peninsula has been so thoroughly undermined , that the Foreign office will interfere with his design . One of'the Spanish parties has solioited the interference of Louis Phillippe , and it is preferable that the long contested question of the Spanish succession should be decided in favour of a Bourbon Prince , than that
theaangerousexample should be longer tolerated , of a nation settling its ftwn Government and constitution according to the popular will . When France is about to put down the national movement in Spain , and establish a despotic legitimacy , may not Louis Phillippe send a force to crush Repealers ? The antagonist principles of popular liberty and ariatooralio tyranny are rapidly condensing their power , and ranging themselves in fatal opposition . Education , both secular and religious has opened the eyes of the millions , and a struggle is inevitable . Be the conflict brief or protracted , we bid God-speed to the rights and liberties of men , social , moral , and political . "— Dublin World .
When the above extract is read in connection with our several articles upon the recent Royal meeting , we find , that after-circumstances have led ear contemporaries to tho same conclusion at whioh we arrived upon much more slender data . It may be as in the case of B ., whose life was saved by timely notice ; that the results , which we anticipated in tbe outset , may also be frustrated by the general notice of preliminaries to which the press now directs public attention , and to meet whioh we even
rnticipated our Irish contemporary by directing attention to the improved mind of Ireland . To that democratic prime minister ; and directing agent of thought and action , we now look as a corrective of evil institutions ) , and as a barrier against real intrusion . The hind is marching onward with rapid strides ; while the phantasmagoria of kingoraft and priestcraft ia becoming dim in the new light . Since we last wrote , Greece , the cradle of science and nurse of arts , has " pron 9 tmc « rf" ! - ? Greece without a blow has dictated terms to her monarch I—Greece has
presented to Europe and the world , that unextinguishable fraternity which in the mind of tbe truly free must ever exist between the soldier and the civilian . When King Otho expressed bis desire to submit the popular demand for a Constitution to his Ministers , the people and the soldiers , or mere properly , the civil and military community of Greece replied that the Ministers had met , had deliberated , and pronounced ; and the sun that Bet upon the Dictator ' s head rose brilliantly upon the people's Constitution . Athens presented bo bustle , because its whole mind * with the exception of Otho , ran iu the same current With Greece it was , as with England it will be , when the deep sore of oppression shall become
unendurable to tbe majority . No shots were fired ; no clamour was raised ; no sound of triumph was heard , though the victory was complete . Whether or no Greeee saw the passing opportunity of wresting her liberty from the hands of au , irresponsible Monarchi while affairs of greater moment occupied the attention of the three great powers , RuEsia , France , and England , who have always made that unfortunate conntiy a make-weight in their several negotiations , we cannot say { or whether the rule-of-tbree method will be resorted to , to deprive her of her liberty , by an inconvenient demand for that debt whioh she owes » a 3 the price of her bondage , we cannot tell but in either case , the triumph of combination will ba a lesson not lost to the nations of the earth .
Spain , too , in spite of the intrigues , the machinations , and the treacheries of Louis Phiutob * nill follow the example , of Greece . Is it not marvellous , unaccountable , and " passing strange , " that so enlightened a people as the Frenoh should tamely submit to the squandering of their money in perpetuating ; Bourbon intrigue and tyranny in Spain I Every man who has followed the events of the last tan y . eajcs ia Spain , must tow oome to . &q
Portrait Of W. P. Roberts, Esq.
PORTRAIT OF W . P . ROBERTS , ESQ .
Manchester Demonstration In Honour Of T. & Duncombe, Esq.
MANCHESTER DEMONSTRATION IN HONOUR OF T . & DUNCOMBE , ESQ .
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A : THE NORTHERN S ? T A R ' ' ' i i ... . i - - ri " ¦ _ ' T ? -i . ii i T '' *' " "" ' ' ''' ¦——— ' "fija *^
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Oct. 7, 1843, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct950/page/4/
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