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(Drmmmtuotijj nf tin Ikmk,
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rot to accept any other professional engagement for any of the evenings named . ' << This proposition , entirely in the spirit of the laws of the Society , having been submitted to the Members at a special meeting , and accepted by only eighteen out of s ixty-jive , the Council feel they are absolved from the responsibility of carrying on the Concerts further ; and they prefer rather that the time , labour , and money , which they have devoted to the organization of the Society , shall be wasted , than that they should continue answerable for engagements which it has been proved they have no means of fulfilling . —By order of the Council , "Alfred Nicholson , Hon . Sec . " It is in this way that attempts to raise the m usical profession are frustrated . Ill-considered actions such as this have gained for the whole bodythat which is deserved only by the few : the reputation not alone of squabbling and jealous disagreement , but of being men whose word is not to be depended upon , whose actions are not trusted . It is ^ the black sheep of the musical profession which make the profession to be regarded simply as a set of " tvvangling jacks" and ignorant mechanical scrapers . No profession can become respectable when its members are men not be trusted , and are known to have as little respect for themselves as for the art they profess . We do not wish to apply these words to the men whose secession has caused the dissolution of the Orchestral
Society . They may have reasons for the course they have adopted ; but , in the absence of such reasons , the statement of the council would show the affair to have been a mere repetition of that which all who have had connection with musical societies have had frequent cause to lament . Such actions destroy the chances of raising the position of music , and cast a shadow upon the whole fraternity .
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TO THE CHARTISTS OF ENGLAND . Fhiknds , —Having been informed portions of your body in various localities have nominated me again as a " and proper person to act as one of > our Executive for the ensuing year , and fe eling confident that year will be one of unusual excitement , I have thought it prudent to lay before you brie y an outline of my views upon your past and future policy , in order that you may run no chance of electing a man whose views may possibly be antagonistic to your own ; and to avoid the possibility ( should I be one of the chosen ) of having it said that I sougtit your suffrages while sailing under false colours . To be plain with you , therefore , I declare to you I have three positive objections to urge against the policy laid down by those who are , or who assume to be , your leaders : —
1 . I disagree entirely with the proposition that your Executive should bo reduced in number , or that that body should be paid . 2 . I look upon the notion of working men onu being elected , not only as a childish idea , but believe in practice it would be a , delusion and a snare . 3 . I scout tin ; idea of repudiating all men but those who belong solely to your movement , believing it to be undemocratic , absurd , and impolitic . My reasons for my first dissentient are briefly as follows : —A Convention was called together on whom devolved the duty of legislating for the movement , and which decided it should be regulated in its present mode ; and until another Convention be called , and until that Convention decide : * to alter your confilitution , it is the duty of all who call themselves
democrats to abide by the laws which their own representatives made ; but further , 1 hold it to be a > vise policy to have us largo a number on your J' -xecuiive as practicable , because , ihst , it insures a Rood average attendance ; and , secondly , for the ; rea-Hon that all propositions having to be examined and sifted by a number of men who , naturally viewing each given circumstance from a different point of ight , will afford u . security to your movement that no hasty or undigested measures Khali ever again retard <) r jeopardize the onward march of Democracy . And ft « lo the prudence or practicability of paying your ^ 'X « cutive , really it is not only unnecessary , but in truth it . is impracticable ; and were it not , the money could In- devoted to better purposes . It must ; be clear t () those who do not . Hcorn . subtraction , addition , and
llll 'hiplicat . ion , that to jmy three , hv < « , or nine men "Would consume weekly £ (> , £ 10 , <> r £ 1 » , leaving unl'lovidod ( or . secretary , vent , piinting , and lecture ™ . 1 say we do not , want an Executive to live upon your '" ? '"j'icsand Kacrilieex , in the form and shape thin plan * 'i » ld involve . J . say if cither of the above huiuh can ! )(; i -ised , ] t ; t the money hi : expended in tracts and " ^ Uiu-,., un < lri- , !„; direction of u temperate , capable , u » d |) ia (• t ; 1 , li 10 x « : ciUive ; and you will do infinitely lll to elevat e and dignify the movement than a 11 U 11 < of money impended " merely for the pert-tonal " < 'Jvic < n and utVcmluucva of mi Executive Committee W n 1 U 4 mm
I do not wish you to infer that I am opposed to the proper payment of those who labour for you , either on paper or on the platform—this is altogether a different question—but in this it is my deep conviction you will be better served , and your interests will be safer in the hands of volunteers who will serve the movement without any other hope of fee or reward save the approbation and testimony of a good conscience , than you would be if you delegate your authority to the same number of men who could not live unless they were paid by the movement for their services ; not that men thus circumstanced would be necessarily dishonest , but the possession , of office would be craved—and secured too—by the spouters and hangers on of the movement , who never have done anything but retard it , —whose antecedents are the shibboleths that keep hundreds of men from joining you—and who , even lately , have done their little all to drive from your councils that class of men who alone can save your movement from extinction . In touching upon my second objection , I should like , without giving offence , still to make myself distinctly understood . Why do the rational scout heredi'ary legislation ? Simply because we run the risk of having , as the case may be , a rogue , or an idiot ,
as often as a wise man , for a Leg : slator . This is precisety why , upon principle , I object to an absolute law being laid down , " that working men alone should form your Executive Committee . " There is no innate virtue or talent in a " working man" above another man , and the results of the legislative operations of such a committee I fear , if probabilities are to be-considered , - would be anything but satisfactory . Let me ask , what chance tc > obtain the requisite knowledge has a man who has to toil from sunrise to sunset ? It is my iirm belief that , if one thousand
men , artizans , mechanics , and labourers—who love their children and study their homes—were canvassed , you would not find three men who would , or could , undertake what you require an Executive Committee to perform ; you would then be driven to the doubtful men whose characters , domestic or public , would not stand the light of Diogenes ' s lantern , or to those who some of you want to repudiate , namely , that class of men who are in a position that justifies them , for the love o their fellowmen , to meet the required demands on their intellect , their time , and their pockets .
One of your eloquent friends ( who can use both tongue and pen , and who , if his ideas are carried out , must be " of , " or perhaps the only one with the required qualifications for , his Executive Committee ) thus writes : — " Shall the movement proceed in the miserable way in which it has hitherto stagnated ? " Now , this is not exactly the thing ; it has the appearance of a dirty bird fouling its own nest ; for was not the writer one of that very Executive that he accuses as the instrument of this stagnation ?
and ( speaking from memory ) he was one , too , whose attendance has not been more regular than that of other members ; whose suggestions , practicable or impracticable , have not been more frequent than those of other members ; and whose absences in the country , though professedly on Chartist business , have not had a tithe of the effect , and for the future will not realize a thousandth part of the value , to Democracy that will spring from the lecturing tours of another member of your Committee , whom he twits with being absent on other business . Your eloquent friend repudiates the services of men who have papers , and advises you not to elect a man who
has counting-house business to attend to . li' the Litter cup is meant to lit me , thus I reply to it : That any men who ri . se from the ranks of labour by industry—who , amid their rising prosperity , have never turned their backs upon the toilers—who have the respect of a large number of working men—and who , in tho . se sneered at counting-houses , communicate daily with more ine'ii capable of doing good se ; rvie'C to the cause th : m certain other people ( judging from the past ) are ever likely to meet \ vit . h m their lives— -and who , by their practice and demeanour have given pledges for their sine : erity— are worth shoals of your untried , theorizing , non-contributing , fault-finding , do-us-I-say-not-as-i -do dccluimcrs .
I now will briefly touch upon the third objection I have to make against the absurdity — the madness of repudiating men who belong toother movements . 1 have heard of . sonic men who , having but . one idea themselves , have a strung *; fancy lo make all the world subset ve to it ; and I have heard , too , of a certain Fox who , having lost , his tail , endeavoured to persuade foxes with tails they would be better without theirs ; but I never expected amongst a class of men who have studied , or whopretend to haveistudied , the aspects of political or social economy , to find any
hardy enough to attempt , ils realization . I should like to know how many capable men you would have left in your movement if mciubt ; ih of the following associations were ineligible to act as your oflic . er . s — the Christian Socialist , the Anti-State Church , and Parliamentary Koform Associations , the Society for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge , and the Secular School Society ; to say nothing about the plan proposed actually shutting out men who went , for Jliw points outof the-am ; . How " beautifully lesa " would the sum total of ellicient membem boon be , were Hitch u iiuriow und . miaciublit policy ioiatod . unon the . bo git
deluded body to which you belong ! For my own part , I tell you candidly , if you elect me , I shall join or act with any association I please ; and if you do not like it , pray do not elect me . Further , I tell you it is high time you threw off the mental yoke of those eccentric councillors who have always redueed the real friends of progress to the necessity of serving your movement ( if , indeed , it was to be served at all ) in . despite of yourselves and your loud-talking advocates . Your eloquent friend says , The men elected ought to be tried , indubitable—real bona fide Chartists . "
This is a sounding sort of sentence ; but either means nothing , or else means more than some men would like if they crave to retain the helm of your affairs . Who is a tried man ? not necessarily one who has been in prison . I think those who gave their mite to support men in prison have much more the appearance of tried men—I think more , and I hesitate not to tell you that it is my deliberate opinion , in nine cases out of every ten that fact should be a disqualification , because it evidences sucli men have neither the foresight , calmness , or discretion
necessary to be possessed by the leaders of sunh a movement . I should be sorry were this opinion token in a personal sense hy any of the political sufferers ; those of them who know me will feel that I would be the last man to say anything with the intention of wounding their feelings ; what I wish to convey is merely this , that a man who has been a victim is not necessarily the man to be a Leader , unlpss he possesses a number of other qualification ? , which if you do see in him , of course his past sufferings in your cause will always give him a superior claim to your respect and suffrages .
Your eloquent friend also says , " Elect men who can use both pen and tongue on platform or paper . " I fancy many aspiring Chartists will feel this an utter disqualification for them , however worthy ; while working men proper will hardly know how to conceive such a qualification to be at all harmonious with the suggestion of having none but their class on your Executive . I say also , have none but tried men ; but take care they are tried men ; not forgetting also the time must come when some fresh men must be chosen , and that th'pre is a time when all men are untried .
Weigh well , then , the qualities of the candidates before you make your choice ; but when you have made it , be honest enough to support them ; and if any whim or crotchet should induce you not to do so , be candid enough to blame yourselves , not the men whom you decline to afford the necessary means to carry on your own cause . If you do this in sincerity , your new Executive will lay down their offices at the end of 1852 , with Chartism advunced many stages towards its consummation ; if not , Chartism will still continue to be viewed as a sort of political
Frankenstein , to be made use of by jour enemies whenever they want to filch another tax , or place some other yoke upon your nocks . If you are wise , the Chartists will cease to be held up to scorn as a factious clique , opposed to everything and everybody ; and Chartism will be viewed as a practical proposition emanating from , and being carried on by , practicalmen . All associations moving in parallel paths must and will apply to , and receive assistance from , your organization in achieving their objects , which , if good , however short they may be : of your own , you should never withhold assistance from . Your
movement would thus be the lallying-point of all others , and each one achieved would be just so much progress made ; towards the consummation of your own . At present the- ' argument of your leaders is , literally , that all men are villains ; that each step gained by any class or man makes that class or man enemies and tyrants over his fellow-man . In consequence your policy , instead of improvement or progreHBion , is , in fact , retrogrension . Were you successful in carrying it out , its fulfilment would be anarchy , and
every man s hand would be against his neighbour . Instead ( if ample work , more food , and more comfort , your policy , m effect , is , no work , less food , and starvation , on the false presumption that , if a man has a full belly , he must be an aristocrat of full bellies , and contribute his quota to keep his fellow-cre : ituren in their present degraded position . These assumptions are false and scandalous libels upon our common humanity , and should be scouted by you as the ravings of madmen .
Your policy should be to make Chartism attractive and lovoable , that the unenfranchised may revere it as a means of deliverance , and look forward to its realization with hope . That , you will adopt thin policy is my earnest hope ; and if , after this expression of my t-. cntimcntn , you think it well to elect me , I shall do as I always have endeavoured to do — servo tin ; cause of Progress to the utmost of my power mid ability . 1 remain , yours faithfully , K . O 1 IKUT 1 , K Ill . ONI ) .
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riMLICO WORKING IUJII / DKKS . The Pimlieo Working MuildeiH gave a very agreeable entertainment at the Clarendon Hotel , in Pnnlieo on Tuesday evening . The immediate object of the ; dinner was to mark the uensu which the Association , entertuiuod . of thv liberulity that hud boon uUervvii ta
(Drmmmtuotijj Nf Tin Ikmk,
( Drmmmtuotijj nf tin Ikmk ,
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POLITICAL AND SOCIAL . A
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Dec . 13 , 1851 . ] ® j ^ & * £ & **? 1191 —— - . .. . \
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1851, page 1191, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1913/page/19/
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