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Untitled Article
Mint vou desire to protect the JiittJe Pedlington propagandists from that freedom of examination you accord to the , questions of " our religion , morals , and social institutions' : * < . Your inconsistency is . the ippre apparent , seeing in the selfsame ajdclei you seyerely—¦ arid / letrheadkL iiist lv—criticise « Uhe shortcbmirigs" * of the vtotk-S classes ; . In ' that ' criticistnr folly Concur . But , while defrsuriiig the Slavish apathy and ttimirral in * difference-of tine great- hodv of i ; heworlririg classes ? n their & # & triehts and- welfare , let ' ¦ me add the ex-Deneitnatune
pression * of nay nrm > t : course lensituitfuy to inspire : tlielpeopJorwith political virtue is for th , e | r inst » u <^ W «; w ) 4 teadeis ito 8 hoF « th « p |* elve ^ fliwma ^ n , unstable ,, ;^ d ^ bkw nyabo , ul ; r , Jiy ;! eyery ^ ind . of dQCtrjnJe , ;' : ^) ¦ , - . .. .-. ¦ : ., < , -. ,:- . - .- < ' : . ;¦ ..--.-. .:.,.: . ..- ¦ . . «* ' .. ., , , , , " . 3 , ' ouobs r ca « se con ^ nt never . ' _ ...:,:. .., _ ..,, '• You are pts&sedia speak of the ^ difference ^ between PemQcr . a ^ tp , and the ^ ftdera | e / Reformers , as ^« a ' Sght about words arVd fractional distinctions . " The-nght ^ if fight It be—is ^ over M atter ntttchtrlore Serious . On the one side \ it yidesire'd tfj enfrari « Hise alF ; oh twho
the other , to' excliidis the poorest thos ^ ' » most need the " pTbtec'trori 'of representation . iDnTtfce one s ^ it iB des £ r « t"to estabiish assyBtem v ^ hioh wriU enable the people to Beleettheir , representatives , from any « lasa ^ not .: e * esp 4 ii « g ¦ jllwtf jHjarfi&t ^ and-lyom weavers and ; agswlturalviabourers , ; on the ol £ er ,, ltp perpetuate , in ; pi ?* c ^ , the , pipBerty . ^ uah-ficauonfor representative Qn . jtfee one sjde ^ it is desired to make the , representatives the delegates of the jJeopres will : on the other" cb make thetrt the Tjedple'srhasters 1
bv giving tlie ' m athree gears' leasebfpttwerl ' ' ' - Gall f btt- ' tl ^ se ai »^ feirtes' ^ , 'fmctt 6 ' nsiln < Ii 3 tt « ctions " ? The distinction is just this i ^ he advocates of the Charter d « gire to establish the jeign of Democracy . / ^ he * dvocates of V . tfee little Charter " deaiujf ^ to ? garr& iU \ exitfofe i ** Mti& 4 « # the country agains the encroachments of the democratic spirit . ' * ' - ' ' ¦ ¦ •' You repeat your-version of the meaning of thj » ParUamelrtiry B » former » ' programmei Permit me to ask * Do you speak with the voice of authority ? Bo vou sharer in the Councils of the . Poultry ? W 411
Sir Joshua and Co . * endorse your interpretation of their douhtful revelation ? Can they notvspeakfor themselves , and thereby dispose of all doubts . You affirm that " nothing ia said ab out rate . -p&yirig clauses . " Truly . But I affirm something was said , to wit , ** that the voters shall consist of those who « shall be rated , or ; shall have claimed to be rated to the relief of thte poor . '" Was that qualification been thrown overboard , or has it not ? If dispensed with , what is thonew systeinof qualification , or registration , adopted ; -by the Keformers ' , ? Plain answers to these queries will oblige . . which lam at ent
As regards the country in pres sojourning , any system « f suffrage mixed up with any kind of poor-law qualification , would be as absurd as injust . One fourth of the parishes of Scotland are not rated to the relief of the poor at all $ and in the remaining three-fourths there are several modes of assessing the poor ' s rates—I believe to the dumber of four or five—and these modes are continually changing . , The poor ' s rate system of Scotland is not more varied , and varyingj - thjiri are the principles (?) of those who fofsake explicit and unqualified universal Buffraeoir for some half-hearted compromise . Mr .
Fox , w&we told ( £ « WerJNT <> vember 1 ) , " is in favour * of mote extended reform llian that proposed by the National Ajwociatkm f" but nevertheless supports i that wihich he admttB to be incdinpRHe and therefore injust . Mr . Hume , on the other hai ^ d , evidently , holds himself ; at liberty to vote for something less than the above .- ^ a m ^ d scheme , sHouhl any such turn tip and gbtitia the sanciion of the middle classes . Ilia recent . exhibition at Edinburgh priwerited , the pitittblo spectacle of a political leader (!) 4 ^ ututeot a political principle . JJon Quixote , Dr . Sj atax , and " the gentleman ill'aea ^ h of -ftTClfKion" wore never more bothered than theinenibe ^ P for Montrose appears to have been , in his travels in quest of a party and a
programme , Like yourself I " do not undervalue vigorous Ian-, cuage , " if honestly employed . Hut by politicians language ia too often employed , not to expre « 8 , but to conceal , their real aims ; in fact , to use a homely simile , " for the purpose of throwing dust in the eyes of the people . " You declare your "little respect for politicians whoso words are larger than their achievements . '" 3 agree , for 1 have ' not forgotten the lteform Hill agitation . You , too , must remember " the Vigorous language" of thnt time : the orations of
of " Slashing Harry " ( not then •• • Lord " ) Urougham , who—not long alter "the threu glorious days "— promised the people of York » hire a gaino at football with King ' s heads ; and the inultitudu «> u » speeches of other vigorous " orators who hold forth in the same Btylc . Kogard for your Bpaco forbids me supplying quotations You know lb _ o grand «? uchiev « mentB of those " bold " " . hearty" oratorn : " tb « bill , tho wholo bill , andnothing but the bill ; " " amockery , a delusion , and a ftnarc . "
It may bo that in epito of all warnings the masses will allow themuelves to bo again " taken in and done for . " But cw * an honest maa lind «» y justification
for aiding and assisting in , or connivrng at , the proposed experiment on popular credulity ?" You profess to " have little agreement with politicians who tell the people they ought to have the Charter ; since . we believe that a people united and resolved can have whatever it demands . " No one Willdispute the truism of - the last part of the ab&ve sentence . But how will you get the people united and re 4 olv « i to have ? the , Qharter without
indoctrinating thepa Mvi ^ h a . kaowl ^ d ge ^ f . it ^ principles and a , sense xj £ Us , valued With asm , uchr ( or rather as UttleX reason I w ^ g ht reply , ? * 'What folly for the editor of the % kader to advocate an . amended Poor iaw , CboperWtibn , Idutual AssuranceV Secular Educltibtt ; National iAcid >; to Oppre ^^ cd Nations , seeing that the people ;' if en Jrghtehed . ortitedi , and resolved , tould h * » 4 > aH ' i ! h » y need for their own welfare , and could ? break the-chains of their ; brethren . " . " If ifs
were horaesi ; beggars might ride , '' - .. If the people were ail « s ? fenlightened and resolved a « th ^ . Editor of the Lmder ^ jsxw J ournal , wx ) uld , be a superfluity . , i ... Qjf ^^ estUnating " the little Cjiarter , " you underesti « 9 ^ e j $$ Charter .: r- " It is liot ^** say you , " the Charter that we desire , " but the power to exact the ( Charter . ^ ' W'hy ' hot desire both ? Popular power , the exercise of which should be ^ undefined , would be anarchy . ' In' ihe state of New ¥ ork ( iu other of the American States also ) there ; is a- party of " Land Rrformeri /* ! That party is 'by a lohg way in a minorityii But by the help ; 9 f voice and pen , by
« antinuaUSrnteiang , the peopleith s ey ought to have . a just . system ; pf la . ndhcddj ^ ng ,,. the Jiefojrpers hope _ , in ^ e ppuif e . pf time tp ' cbcBmand publfcopiniqi ? , iiifluence a majority ' of their fellow-citizens , and obtain their object through the peaceful lnstfumehtality of the , ballot-box- Butfif uhiVersal suffrage had no legal existence ; cotild the American Eeformers hope td achieve theif aim by other than violent means ? T Kere might come a Jime whej { they Tvo ^ Id be possessed of " power , " but it would be the power of revolution ; the pbwer of ; a party successful through civil wat . ,, In huimble imitation of that arch-impostor , Darnel
P'Qpnriell , wh , o denounced those who would not be dragged by him through the mire of expediency as "Tory-Radicals ; " you fling at meri like myself the nickname of " Charitst-Conservative . " What next ? This new coinage will not circulate . Singularly infelicitous is the designation of * ' Conservative , ' applied to men against whom you make It a matter of complaint ' that they desire to " get the seven-leagued boots" to go over " the whole journey' of political progress " at a stride . " Would to Heaven that all Conservatives were of the same stamp ; and that all Progressionists were as conservative of principle as are the men you so unfairly stagmatise !
You say , " We estimate politicians in part by their success—one real test of merit . " A sentiment one might expect from a worshipper of Cobden , but which xetfects no honour on the Editor of the Leader . JUspail ia in a , difngeon , and Louis $ onaparte fills the chief place in the Republic . Measure these men by your estimate , and do homage to your hero . For my part I ajn content to adrtiire the tinsucceseful politician , the life-long martyr , —teacher , worker , 6 ufferer , — veritable Ami du Peuple .
' ( You say , ** Our object 3 include matters which the orthodox . Chartists of the oldBchool used not to take into account . " This assertion , if true , would he ungraceful , unnecessary , and provocative of a rejoinder fcs tp the past political conduct of Social llelormers — both orthodox and heterodox . Having no wish to tranform differences into divibibns I abstain from that rejoinder . But I insist that your assertion is incorrtct . I need not recapitulate your list of objects , enough that 1 make the coiihter-tiBaertion , that years before the Leader existed the Chartists did seek all your objects . This is a question of fact . Reference to the'history of tho party , the speeches of Chartist advocates , the official documents of Chartist bodies — especially the petitions addtesfced to tho legislature —will urov * the incorreoineaa of your assertion .
Even- supposing Chartism meant nothing but Charterism ,. would you mcjwl your prospects as a BO « ial reformer by ubundoniiig the Chartists for " the liWle ChartiBW " ? The t nuctment of the little Charter meant the reigu of Cobden , Bright , Roebuck , witli nrist « icrata of the Newcastle and ( Jrahaia stamp . Would thek > men give you the kind of poor law you seek ? Would they aid your cooperativetschtinesund Bbeialist experiment !* ? Let the history oi' the past answer ! Let the bimtilled poor , the factory workers , tho miners uud tk ^ Jiondou baker » tehtify 1
Need I add to the above ? Need i more than remind you , without conuuent , of the network of fraud and dt'Jutiion wove about IConsuth to int > i ) iro him togl <» rif your vil , lninous ' * constitulionnl " system , and at , the name time ruin himself arid liis cause in the estimation of the Huiopean democtacy ? W < m ever perfidy more profound , more execrable ? Yet the Leader would have the people follow the guidance of the perfidious !
What ! when in ITrance the question is simply " Unqualified Universal Suffrage , or Revolution , ' shall BritonH , tho eldest born of modern freedom , content theuieelves with any miserable modicum of fruncliiae it may please urUtocrata or ohopoorata to
f&ng to them But you say the people have not the necessary spirit to insist upon their full emancipation . Will you inspire them with that spirit by advising them to " move" for something less than their emancipation ? If the masses will not save themselves , so be it . But let not the Editor of the Leader sully his fair fame by sanctioning injustice and delusion . . In- conclusion , I will trouble you with a quotation from the words of a man who would not forsake principle fof expediency , who saw through and repuot his and
diated the moderate jReiormers day ; whom , therefore , the Editor of the Leader may designate a " Chartist-Conservative , "—a former Duke of Richmond . His words may be useful to gentlemen in search of a principle , and may help to decide the doubting , thdse of whom Burns speaks as showing' H A hankering swither to stan' or rin . " Writing to Colonel Sharman , Chairman of a Reform Committee in Belfast , August 15 , 1783 , the Duke of Richmond observed : —" The great objection , in . my bpinionto every narrow and contracted plan of
, reform is , that it proceeds upon the same bad principle as the abuse it pretends to rectify ; it is still partial and - unequal . .... But in the more liberal and great plan of universal representation , a clear and distinct principle appears that cannot lead us wrong —not eonveniency , but right Let us , then , determined act upon this broad principle of giving every man his own , and we shall immediately get rid of all the perplexities to which the narrow notions of partiality and exclusion must ever be subject . ' Yours , faithfully , G . Jciian Harney .
P . S . Allow me to express my admiration of the talent displayed in your articles on Continental Politics , and of the tone which generally pervades them . I say generally , for I must make one important exception . The above letter is already too lengthy , or I would have shown cause for my respectful but earnest protest against your new-born sympathy with President Bonaparte , and your censure of the consistent , unswerving Republicans who have rightly refused to support that incarnation of perjury and villainy . As to Girardin , j our special favourite , " the practical man " par excellence , you know , from his antecedents , that his fickleness ( to use no harsher term ) is as notorious as his talents . He is as variable as the wind , and as un rustworthy
as a quicksand . May the brave French Republicans , confiding in neither traitors nor tricksters , trust only to themselves for their own and their country ' s salvation !
Untitled Article
REFUGEES AND THE " TIMES . " 18 , Queen Ann-street , Cavendish-square , November 11 , 1831 . Sir , —I beg of you to make a place in the columns of your journal for these few lines in answer to the Tintes of Monday , the 10 th instant , in which , in a leading article about the address presented to Kossuth by the Fr « nch refugees , it says : — " When the truth is known , M . Kossuth is not a whit more mischievous to us than the tribe of fugitives who speculate in different ways on the careless hospitality of England . " To this I reply that the refugees of nil nations residing in England—1 . They do not " speculate" upon the English hospitality . 2 . This word hospitality ib here improperly used . 1 . They do not speculate on English hospitality ; because , if they nrmse some of the English institutions , they say the truth , because tln-re nro some to be praised ; if they speak against some other . ' , and preach truth , they do not do it in their own behalf , but lor the welfare of mankind , therefore they act right . In fact , if they say that in England liberty ia a fact and not a principle , they say the truth ; if anybody will have a proot of that , it it will be enough
to examine any institution whatever in this countiy , there shall be found to exist in principle some privileged classes ; while , in fact you shall find that those who are not ao privileged are equal to the fir . st , never , however , in principle nor yet in all r « -sperts ; such is the electoral system , that of property , Ka ; . ike It" they say that it was not right for Mngland to act as it did against the Established Church of Koine , here , too , they Bay the truth ; becau . se Knglund herself has an Established Church , and how absurd been
this is it ia useless to Kay , because it ha . s thoroughly demonstrated already ; the fact in , that tho members of dissenting se-ctH represent the majority in England ; and it thin Est ; tb ) i , h < - < l . Church is not bo tyrannical and insolent us that of Koims it w not by reason of the qualities of iw im-mbo ™ and miniate ™ , or the truth of its doctrines ; but l" - «>»»«< - it ia situated in the midst of a frc « ami .. ¦ . il . hto .. el Hociety an the lftiglish i « . ami l « : ««««« »»««» th « > . pp . - eitioniB not m lively a * it i « u . Im y : ' < V jj it W that , nB soon hh the Church ol Rome allempted to penetrate into H « l «» d »» y ending ( Jardini . l Wiseinau 2 company , every body known what « war wasmiHed i . giiiH « t them , and by whut i <» oli « li und puHilluninio . iH n « . ' » nB . IJut this in enough as respect- * England , becuiwe 1 do not undei take to write a treatujo UV " jJUwintulity ia a word improperly used . Ac-
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Ncwi ^^ ssi . ] mtm < & * ** & $ * i 095
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 15, 1851, page 1095, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1909/page/19/
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