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rO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS
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My yeby Dear FniE5DS,-My engagements ip ...
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AND SATIQNAL TRADES' JOURNAL.
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VOL. X. NO. 439. LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL...
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THE POLISH INSURRECTION.
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MOST IMPORTANT MANIFESTO OF TIIE REVOLUT...
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BANKRUPTS. (From Friday's Gasette, Apr' d 10, 1810J
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Edward Foley, Stoke Newingtou.grcMi. Isl...
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The Scotch Email Laws.—V, r c observe th...
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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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Ro The Imperial Chartists
rO THE IMPERIAL CHARTISTS
My Yeby Dear Fnie5ds,-My Engagements Ip ...
My yeby Dear _FniE 5 DS ,-My engagements ip furtherance ofthe Land _pit _^ t , last week , compelled me to _nes _lectalarge portion of my _weeldy du _« -to the Northern Star , and the prt . parat . on of accounts , and other _amm _gemenb , ss necessary _prel-mmaries to the ballot on _Mondaynerf _. has occupied so much of mv time this week that I have not been able to furnish vou with the usual summary of the weeks news ortoreply to several correspondents . I know that _vou would not receive my apology gracefully if mv _eicuse was idleness , but I think you will accept it cheerfally when you understand that my undivided time has been devoted to your business .
I shall now proceed to address yon at considerable lecsth , as it will be impossible , or rather it would be imprudent , to condense my observations upon the many imporiant subjects on which I am about to address you . Although a considerable portion of my letter will bei devoted to the Land Plan , you will , _revertheless _, observe , that I address you by tho _| titIe of Imperial Chartists . I do so because I consclen _tiosslv believe , and confidently assert , that
ninetyliae in every hundred of thc Chartists of _England , have at length persuaded themselves that the Land plan , so far from injuring , has been the life of the Chartist cause . Since I last addressed you I inspected a farm of 164 acres , within 6 miles of Carlisle , and a very superficial view of situation and <» _mpleHon of the soil convinced me of its unfitness fer our _purpose ; I therefore abandoned the notion of baying it , althongh the circumstances of the proprietor , a very poor old man , of Ti years of age , would have induced him to sell it a great bargain . He . cave 4-5001 . for the estate twenty-four years ago , and j
expended some hundreds of pounds upon building and other works , and would now take 32001 . for it . Iz is inst such aa estate as a trade-society should purchase , with a view to its improvement . In three rears it would pay them S per cent ., and more , npon tie money expended , besides theadvantage of relievingthe labour market , by applying the surplus hands to the cultivation and improvement of their own land , and at the same Itime augmenting their own funds . This is one of the great additions that I wish to see made te the Land plan . 1 wish to see all the monev belonging to trade-societies , now lying idle in
banks , applied to the purchase of landed property , with the view to expending a iai-ge amount of labour npon it . I know not what rate of interest the trades receive for their monies , bnt I know there is no such security as the land , and at whatever rate they purchase I will undertake to l _ re them well secured in four per cent , for their money : —that is—if any trade will purchase , say 5000 L worth of land , I will undertake to secure them in a rent of 2001- a year npon the purchase money . And as the working classes are but too fatally ignorant upon the subject of the land , I must here observe , that land so purchased by a trade-society would of itself , without any additional improvement , be good security for the interest ,
Hie , by the continuous improvement going on under our system , their property would be daily more valuable . For instance , if a trade purchased 5000 ? . wont of land , and leased it for ever to our society at 2097 . a year , in the coarse of two years their charge of 2 iW . a year , made more secure and valuable by our buildings , _unprovements , and labour , would sell for Ct > X » Z ., or fliirty-three years' purchase of the 2001 a-year reserved rent . Oh " , what would I give to be able to make yoa all understand me familiarly upon this subject . " . If the trades would co-operate with mc for their own advantage , and the improvement of their class , we should very speedily have such a Xew England a 3 never was seen .
I now torn to the consideration of one of the most important points connected with our society . I _aean the greedy desire manifested for the purchase of every estate that is offered for sale , whether in parts of the country where we have many members , or in parts w here we have not got a single member . 1 like this anxiety , because it shows a longing after the land , whileacertain degree of prudence must be used to control and repress it , as a single false step , or one unlucky purchase , might do our society
irreparable damage . The frequency of those notices of _estates to be sold does , however , answer one of the principal fallacies of our opponents , who stoutly contended that we never should be able to purchase Und . While I never will take a single important step ' without the undivided concurrence of my brother directors , nevertheless , I now state , most unegus-• voealiy , that no individual , or local predilection , no ! iavitation , no dread of hlauie or anger , shall induce me to make a purchase for the society which I would not make for myself .
The failure of every plan which promised nationalitv has arisen from the foolish desire of the managers to satisfy the wishes of influential parties , without consulting the interest of the body . In this Land movement I recognise no superiority , net eren of the man who would advance £ 10 , 000 , over the member who pays Ms threepence per week . Person not belonging io our society would vainly hope to push us by headlong action into imprudent speculation _, but against that folly we have set our face . I shall now apply myself to some points upon which it will be necessary , indeed indispensable , to take the opinion of our Manchester friends during our sojourn in the district .
The first in importance stands Education , and , in order that a perfect system of education may go hand in hand with free labour , it is my intention to propose , that wherever the society locates 100 members , that five acres of land shall be kept distinct and apart for the purposes of education . That a school-house , with a school-room for boys , aud one for girls , shall be erected upon those five acres , and that the two school-rooms shall be so divided that at any time the partition may be removed in order to afford accommodatioH for lectures on agriculture ,
chemistry , geology , and such other subjects , a knowledge of which may be thought necessary for the occupants and their children . I propose that one acre of those five shall be reserved as play-ground for the children , and that ihe other four acres , with the house , shall be the salary of the school-master and school-mistress , and that , in proper season , thc children able to perform any work shall work two Louisa day npon those four acres for the schoolmaster , and that this shall constitute thc salary of the school-master and tne school-mistress—that is , the house and the four acres of land cultivated to the
highest state of perfection hy thelabourof the children who are able to work , and all will do more or less—( of course , I mean the boys ) , the girls , I presume , will be _engaged in learning to knit , and sew , and bake , and otherwise assist the school-mistress , who will have their d 6 inestic labour also free . Of course , I presume , that in all eases the school-masier and school-mistress will be n * au and wife . Now , those four acres of land , cultivated as they would be , with the house , would he worth more than £ 150 a-year , and I shall suppose 200 children to be educated—their education
wouid cost their parents but 3 s . for the whole family per annum—that h . I presume , that the schoolrooms and house would cost £ 250 , which , at four per cent ., is £ 10 a-year , aud that the five acres of land would he worth £ 1 per year , making £ 15 a-year , and a hundred families at 3 s . each would be _jo * t the £ 15 a-year . I presume that each family would average two requiring education , that is at the rate of la . 6 d . per annum for each . Now , here we find one of the great advantages of co-operation with individuality of possession , while 1 unhesitatingly
assert tbat the system could not be carried out upon thc principle of Communism . This is a branch of the plan to which I attach paramount importance . This is what governments and religious societies have for years been attempting to accomplish , but have never yetsueceeded in ; the blighting influence . of sectarianism always stepping in to mar the project . Beside receiving education , the four acres become a model farm for the agricultural improvement of youths who afterwards may benefit by the instruction , and live independent upon it .
Ah * friends , the advocates of the large farm system are already beginning to bring the word " SQUATTING- " into more fashionable use , with the _etident intention of using it offensively towards our project . _New , it never will apply to us until Britain has a population of two hundred _mUlions , and when she _**&> > let them deal with the emergencies , the necessities , and grievances of their day , 1 will deal only with thoie that present themselves in our day .
My Yeby Dear Fnie5ds,-My Engagements Ip ...
Now , I will show you why we shall not have " squatlers . " The males would assist the fathers , and be at school till fifteen years of age ; at fifteen they would devote their labour with their father to the allotment—at fourteen , society would compel each father to pay threepence a week to the Land Fund for each male child , till at the age of eighteen—in four years , from fourteen to eighteen—he would have paid up his full share at threepence per week—for four acres , at sixpence per week ; and as each male arrived at the
age of eighteen , he would have his own allotment to go to , and by that time the same number of girls would be provided for , as I hope that a country life , and the charms of domestic comfort , will induce young men to marry at thc earliest possible period , so that parental affection , the warm love of a young couple for children , who will be a pleasure and apride to them in youth , and NOT A BURTHEN TO THEM IN OLD AGE , may once more constitute a portion ofthe English character .
On Friday night , at the tea party , and again on Saturday , in the Hall of Science , I shall bring all these subjects so clearly before my audience , as to leave no room for misunderstanding , aud on Monday we go to ballot—a proud operation , and a proud day for me—a day for which I have longed for many years—a day , to postpone which , tyranny , oppression , and misrepresentation have laboured hard , but which , in spite of all , is now within a few hours . But what
will be my pride when I go in company with the first section oi tree labourers to take possession of their own habitations , from which no tyrant can eject them , in which no foe would dare to invade them ? I ask you , will not one man ' s work have been then accomplished , as it will be impossible longer to resist the growing desire for freedom , or to arrest the progress of agricultural prosperity ? Up to this hour , and it is now but twelve o ' clock on Wednesday , we have received between £ 300 and £ 400 , so tbat I did
not make a miscalculation when I ventured to assert that onr funds would reach £ 5 , 000 within the year . Our plan will not have been in operation ten months on Monday next , and we shall be in possession of £ 7 , 000 , if not more . I trust that the clear and lucid manner in which my account appears in this week's Star of all monies received to the end of "March , will give satisfaction totheSMietT , anda' _* flEAVYBLOWANDGREAT DISCOURAGEMENT" toour opponents . I cannot conclude this portion of my letter without strongly reprobating the negligence of several of the
secretaries . While I am making up the accounts to the end of March , there are in m y possession nearly £ 200 worth of Post-office orders wrongly advised , and for which I cannot get cash , while orders are still made made payable at every Po 3 t-oflice in London . I have besought the secretaries to make their orders payable at Charing-cross , to William Proofing Roberts , whether they transmit them to Mr . Wheeler or tome . In many instances they have violated this rule , and now I will make a rule for myself . I hereby solemuly declare , that I will neither acknowledge or receive , on behalf of the Land Fund , any Prat-office order that is notiuadepayable to WILLIAM PROUTING
ROBERTS "UPON THE LONDON POSTOFFICE , ST . _MARTIN'S-LE-GRAND . It is very tiresome , as well as unjust , to take up Mr . Roberts' time signing Post-office orders , and very unjust and hard upon my nephew to receive back 20 per cent , of them , with the intimation that they are not payable to Mr . Roberts , and without any information as to whom they are payable . 1 have now one payable at the Manchester Post-office , and others payable at every Post-office in London . This makes all the Post-offices most uncivil and unaccommodating , while it entails useless trouble . Some of
the secretaries , Mr . Sweet , of Nottingham , for instance , and many others , give us scarcely any trouble , their accounts are so clear , plain , and regular . Why cannot all others do likewise ! And if there is any desire upon the part of the country Post-office to give a preference to any London office , that is no reason why I should be inconvenienced . Every person sending a Post-office order can have it made payable where he pleases , and I insist upon it being made payable at the London office , to William Profiting Roberts , with the name of the _. _person sending it plainly written at full length .
I now take leave of this portion cf my subject , and turn to a consideration of our political relations . I commence , as is natural , with thestate and prospects of my own country ,
IRELAND . When the Queen's speech announced the Ministers * intention of coercing Ireland , the Northern Stur newspaper was the only journal that selected the " base , bloody , aud brutal" threat , for comment and denunciation ; and from that period to the present , I have laboured arduously every week to bring the true state of Ireland home to the understanding of the English mind ; while I have endeavoured , and I
think successfully , to refute the malicious and blasted fabrications , misrepresentations , and denunciations of the Times newspaper , and the Tory press of England . In the first article after the speech was delivered , I pointed out the course which the Irish members and tbe English people were bound to pursue , in the event of the Minister carrying his threat into execution . The policy of the Times was to convince Englishmen that Irishmen had not a single grievance to complain of . That journal asserted that
THE TRAVELLER , WHETHER HE WENT NORTH , SOUTH , EAST , OR WEST ; AND HOWEVER HE DIVERGED , COULD NOT MEET WITH A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL WHO HAD A SINGLE GRIEVANCE TO COMPLAIN OF . All their complaints , upon investigation , were admitted to be ideal ; and the blighting influence of the national religion was assigned as the prolific cause of national inquietude and discontent . This course was adopted to stamp the heaviest reprobation upon those who sought that justice which the law denied , and who were unfairly compelled to that vengeance on their oppressors which the law
refused . Now . however , that resistance to coercion may thwart the Minister , the Times newspaper sees no justice in coercion—whieh itself has mainly produced—unless accompanied with remedial measures The Times has dealt in thc grossest slanders of the Irish people and their priesthood , and would now fain wipe off the stain of its own creation , by a hostile blow at a hostile Minister . On Saturday , the 2 Sth of March , there was an article in tbe Northern Star , which the Times of the following Tuesday was obliged to reprint , with the mere change of simple truths , plainly told , into mysterious editorial phraseology . In the -Star of Saturday last , I
addressed you upon a point which to me appeared , and still appears , of the most vital importance—I mean as to what is now the duty ofthe English people to themselves and their Irish brethren . The enemies of a real union between the people of the two countries have laboured hard to dissever and disunite them . They have attributed to the English people a voluntary participation in all the acts of oppression committed by the English government towards Ireland . They have never had a single opportunity of fostering a horrible enmity , well knowing that a thorough union between the people of both countries would give the death-blow to interested , factious , one-sided , POT-WOLLOPING AGITATION .
• Ihc Irish press must be compelled to force a correct knowledge of English feeling Hpon the Irish mind . It cannot be forced by a mere sectional movemeat ; it must be COERCED by a great national display . Let me , firstly , inform you of a few of the provisions of this bill , and the circumstances whicli render them more oppressive . Firstly , —It makes a Saxon Viceroy the autoerat of Ireland ; it gives him the power to outlaw any portion of Ireland upon the mere caprice , whim , and representation ofa set of tyrant landlords , bigotted parsons , oppressive magistrates—who have been preserved for the purpose—and a spy police . I
My Yeby Dear Fnie5ds,-My Engagements Ip ...
do not condescend to enter upon ihe question of unjust taxation to which he may submit the proclaimed district . Secondly , —It offers a premium for arson , perjury , robbery , rapine , murder , plunder , and every description of lawless violence as well as whim , cunning , deception , and treachery _^ It allows the viceroy to quarter idle freebooters upon those whose peace has been disturbed by the contrivance of those very freebooters themselves .
Thirdly , —The provisions of this harsh and bloody law are to be administered by the RESERVED JUSTICES—b y the justices in whose corruption a Saxon Lord Chancellor can confide ; all who struggle for Irish nationality , amounting to nearly four score , being previously struck out of the commission of the
peace . Fourthly , —It enables ANY ONE of those reserved justices , not acting in petty sessions , not subject to any control , wholly irresponsible , no appeal against his judgment , to TRANSPORT FOR SEVEN YEARS any person who may be found out of his house FROM AN HOUR BEFORE SUNSET TO AN HOUR BEFORE SUNRISE . This bloody-minded decree admits of no comment , and will admit of no palliation , if the English people tamely sanction its enactment .
Fifthly , —It enables the tyrants to violate the trial by jury by sending a poor peasant from the county where he ought to be tried by his peers , to Dublin , to lie tried by a jury , whose fears will be operated upon , and whose minds will be corrupted by the landlords , who have fled the disturbed districts in consequence of their own murderous tyranny ; and where thc perjured policeman , the hired government spy , or the informer , may give their evidence in safety , and receive their blood-money in security .
Sixthly , —Because the bill is aimed at the wrong parties and not at the wrong doers ; for tho PROTECTION OF THE MURDERERS and the entrapment of the innocent . If the biil had for its object the transportation of Mr . and Mrs . Gerrard and such ruffians , who look upon the power to extract rent , and the most violent enforcement of it , as the only duty they have to perform , the law would he good and I would support it . Kit was a bill to transport those who murder the unprotected poor by slow and lingering torture and cold-blooded oppression , it would be good and I would support it . If it was a
bill to enable the oppressed to bring the oppressor to _speedy justice , if it was a bill to force the tyrant landlord from his defended castle to be tried by a tri " bunal of the Irish people , it would be good and I would support it . If it was a bill to allow tbe people to proclaim a district where tyrant landlords hold uninterrupted sway and use their power to degrade the people ; if it was a bill to levy taxes , poor rates , legal expenses , and supplies for an array and police , from the lands of the rich for thc maintenance of the poor , it would be good and I would support it . If it was a bill to coerce the TYRANT LANDLORDS WHO OUST THEIR TENANTS it would be
a good , a wise , and a just measure , and I would support it . But it is a bill to give unbridled licence to an alien in language , an alien in religion , AND AN ALIEN IN BLOOD . It is a bill to give uncontrolable sway to the Orange faction and to enable them to spring once more from their ashes to crush the Catholics of Ireland , and , therefore , for all these reasons it is our bounden duty to oppose it to the death . And how much more pleasing will be the performance of that duty when we reflect that we not only throw the shield of English protection over Ireland , but that we ; COERCE the Irish people to think favourably and to unite with their English brethren .
Is not this what we have been struggling for ? Is not tbis worth struggling for ? and are we so degenerate , base , or even impolitic as to lose the opportunity that now presents itself of establishing a firm union between the English and Irish people ? Englishmen , —As an Irishman , I have some claim upon you . My poor services have been otherwise unrequited , and by your gratitude I have laboured for yau for now thirteen years and a quarter , and if you would make me grateful hear me when I plead upon behalf of Ireland . Hear me when I lift my
voice against her oppressors . Hear me when I point out a simple duty that will rescue her from the fangs of her tyrants . Will you more than repay me for any service that I have rendered to you ? Will you make me your debtor ? Will you , if possible , bind me more firmly to you for ever ? If you will , petition against the bloody atrocity ; and , my friends , only for a moment imagine what the feelings of my countrymen must be , when they are compelled to hear , to read , and to believe that the English people stepped in and saved their country from such rank oppression .
What a lesson for Europe ); what a proud day for Chartism ; what a triumph for Englishmen ; what a humiliation to their revilers , if Mr . O'Connell was to present a petition signed by even three millions of English against the Irish Coercion Bill . What a moral effect it would produce upon Ireland ; what a proof of Chartist organisation ; what a proof o f Chartist virtue . The press must report that ; it cannot conceal our passage through the metropolis ; it _cannotconceal the " monster" arrival at the doorof the Senate House ; it cannot conceal its importance within its walls . Where is the base blabbing fool _.
where is the narrow minded babbler , where is TIIE CONSCIENTIOUS HYPOCRITE , where is the consistent knave , who will stop to enquire into Mr . O'Connell ' s former revilings of Chartism while the liberty of a nation is jeopardised . Is it not the material and valuable part of the policy to compel Mr . O'Connell with his own lips to retract his former misrepresentation ? And why should we , what r ight have we , to withhold justice from the people , because one individual may have reviled us ? Every man to whom I have spoken upon this subject approves the policy , and this morning I have received a letter
from a man who richly deserves the name of leader—I mean Patrick O'fliggins—and I assert , without fear of contradiction , that there breathes not a more wise , more sensible , more prudent , and more courageous or more devoted patriot than O'lliggins . He is a man upon whose judgment , if at fault myself , I would confidently rely . He is a man in whose integrity the English Chartists have the most unbounded confidence . He is the one man of our ranks who has suffered the largest amount of misrepresentation , and when he approves the policy and is prepared to forget individual oppression , when his country calls for aid , it emboldens me to enforce my policy with the more confidence . He says , " Petitions against the
Coercion Act in the way you propose will open the eyes of my purblind or hoodwinked countrymen . Let those petitions pour in from every quarter of Great Britain . I enclose a copy of one in progress of Signature here , perhaps it may answer as a model for some places . " Now can language be more forcible , can appeal be more just , and shall we not as one man unite in answering it . When you asked O'lliggins to come and represent you , ho came . When you were struggling O ' Uiggins was foremost in his endeavour to establish your principles in Ireland . He now _asserts that the proposed policy will have that effect , and shall we lcok for co-operation and refuse it wheu it is asked in return ?
My friends , I think 1 have said enough , and if I should have induced you to take this necessary step to right yourselves , and do justice to Ireland , I shall be more thau your debtor . Let the petitions be verv one directed to Thomas S . Duucoiube , Esq .,
My Yeby Dear Fnie5ds,-My Engagements Ip ...
M . P ., F 3 , Albany , London . This is necessary to enable you to send them free ; I will take care to have them safely delivered to Mr . O'Connell . Let a memorandum of the number of signatures from each town be sent to the Star office , and we will take care to chronicle the numbers . Remember ij is not a quarter of a minute ' s work for each man , and I shall expect the petition sheets to lie at Carpenter ' s Hall during every lecture for the Easter week ; at the Hall of Science on Saturday night ; Oldham Sunday morning and afternoon , and I slial ' expect to leave Manchester with half a million nest week . Now this would bo easily done . Let every town in the neighbourhood send in their petition
sheets , and let every man , woman , and child sign them , and I will bring them with me to London . I am sure the lecturers and executive will aid in this cause , and I am sure the colliers will not be behind _. The following is a copy of the Petition to which the signatures are to he attached , and as it is to be a national petition nothing more is necessavy than to transmit the signatures , we will see that they are properly attached to the petition . There is not time to get uniform sheets of paper , and therefore each locality will procure the best that circumstances will permit of , To the Honorable the Commons ofthe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled .
The Petition ofthe People of England , Scotlnnd > and Wales , aud of the Irish resident in England . Showetli , That after moro than 45 years of what is culled a _legislative union between Great Britain and Ireland , join petitioners are shocked to learn that no hvtter effect has resulted from this measure of promise than tha impoverishnient of the sister kingdom , and periodical demands upon the English Exchequer for the support oi a people remarkable for their frugality , iudustry , and hospitality .
Your petitioners cannot find language sufficiently strong to reprobate the _eoui' 3 e of policy that bas been invariably pursued towards the Irish nation . A policy based upon the expediency necessary to ensure the _cooperation of the respective factions in Ireland in aid of the ruling power for the time being : a policy which was sure to rusult in general dissatisfaction , anil a policy which has now led to the insecurity of life und property _. Your petitioners have never tailed to express their
lively interest in every thing connected with the wellbeing of their Irish brethren , and they take this opportunity of indignantly repudiating the assertion that they have in anywise been parties to tiny single act of _injuslice towards the Irish people ; but , upon the contrary , your petitioners arc daily contending against similar acts of oppression in their own country , which however , thanks to a better system of organisation , are checked aud resisted by the t ' rea expression uf the national mind .
x our petitioners contend that your honourable House has no right to make a law suspending the constitution iu Ireland , or in any way abridging ; the legitimate rights of the Irish people without first having remedied the several long standing grievances which naturally lead to that national irritation and universal demand for justice which the proposed measure seeks to arrest _. Your petitioners call upon your honourable House to remove the manifold causes which lead to Irish dissatisfaction before you hazard the dangerous experiment of setting a viceroy above the law , and making trial by jury •' amockery , " _*' a delusion , " and '' asnare . "
Your Petitioners aver that us long as a union exists between the two countries the law should be equal and _equally administered in both , while yeur petitioners respectfully remind your honourable House that the proposed measure would be a dangerous experiment upon English liberty , English law , and English feeling , " Your petitioners call upon your honourable House forthwith to act upon the evidence furnished to your honourable Ilouse in the report of Lord Devon ' s commission , issued by the command of her Majesty ' s Ministers . Your petitioners ask your honourable House to secure perpetuity of tenure to Irish tenants ; to abolish tbe power of distress ; to establish cheap Courts of Equity , and to pass such laws as will compel thc Irish landlords to perform those duties which ' society requires at their hands .
Your petitioners manfully confess to your honourable Ilouse , that they cannot stamp as a cold blooded murderer the man who , driven to despair , and goaded to veugeanceby a denial of justice , is lured to the crimu by the tyranny and cold blooded acts of oppression to whicli the t « nants of Mr , Gerrard , Sir Francis Hopkins , and those of other Irish _landlord * have been subjected , bybeing ruthlessly dragged from their miserable huts , aud with their weeping and defenceless families , sent destitute upon the wide world , as a prey to every evil passion , and tbe victim of every evil tempter _.
Your petitioners respectfully remind your honourable House that it has been the practice of both Whigs aud Tories , while in power , to conciliate their respectire parties in Ireinnd , by conferring patronage upon their respective partisans , whilcwe defy your honourable House lo point out one single measure calculated to ameliorate the condition of the Irish people _. Your petitioners remind your honourable Ilouse that the Irish Coercion Bill , now undergoing discussion , professes to ha a measure for the protection of thc lives of the peaceable inhabitants of the country , while your petitioners cannot ottierwiso recognise it , than as an encouragement to the rich oppressor to nersevwe in his tyranny of the poor oppressed . Your petitioners therefore pray your honourable House to reject the " base , bloody , and brutal bill , " and tu
pass measures without delay which will enable the Irish people to Ihe upon their own resources , without being beggars at Britain ' s door ; to pass ' _measures that will be equally _protectiro of the lives , tho liberties , aud tho properties of tho poor as of the rich , who appear to be the especial nnd only care ot your honourable Ilouse ; to pass measures which will make every man look upon murder as a crime , and will prevent sympathy from being extended to the criminal , * to pass measures that will derelope the resources of Ireland , and afford to Irishmen a happy asylum in the land of their birth , and thereby make Ireland what she ought to be—the right arm of England—instead of being a drag-chain upon British industry , and her people just haters ot British connection , BritUh oppression and misrule , And your petitioners will ever pray .
There , my friends , is tlie petition that I most respectfully and earnestly ask you to attach your signatures to , so that when the monster makes its next appearance the Irish people shall learn that the English Chartists are not , and never have been , their
e . Your faithful Friend and Servant , _Femiqus _O'Cosxoa
And Satiqnal Trades' Journal.
AND SATIQNAL TRADES' JOURNAL .
Vol. X. No. 439. London, Saturday, April...
VOL . X . NO . 439 . LONDON , SATURDAY , APRIL 11 , 1846 . w . „ _, _™ _*™**^~ Z * ' * _VtveH . _ngsaiul Sixpence , > t . v Quarter
The Polish Insurrection.
THE POLISH INSURRECTION .
Most Important Manifesto Of Tiie Revolut...
MOST IMPORTANT MANIFESTO OF TIIE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT . The National says , — "We hasten to publish the following letter , which has been addressed by . the Polish insurgents who have arrived at _Strasburg to the editor ot the Courricr du , _Bas-Rhin _;—" Sir , —At the moment when , after a journey not unattended by perils , we enter upon the hospitable soil ol hrance-upon that five soil which now suffers the Polish insurgents to raise their voice , which has been too long stifled—our first care is to protest in the face ot the world against the calumnies by whicu the oppressors of our country have tried to dishonour the cause of our dear Poland . If in the absence of
documents wliich we shall shortly receive we cannot yet publish a faithful relation ofthe events which have transpired in Poland , we owe it to tho cause to which we are devoted , we owe it to the public character with whieh we were for a moment invested , to establish forthwith in their true light the fact * whieh throughout this Germany , which we have just traversed as _fugitives , a press paid by the Austrian and Russian Governmentshasgrossly _pervcrlcd . We will not attempt to explain the causes of the Jate insurrection , or to explain tho motives of the insurgents . Is it necessary to justify a nation which , impatient to throw oil * a foreign voice , attached to
the religion of its fathers , struggles by untiring efforts to rcgaiu its uatiouul _i'i __* w _ „ ec , its liberty of conscience , shamefully violated ? If in 1 S 31 the desperate struggle which a portion ofthe Polish nation sustained created such deep sympathy throughout the whole of the civilised world , why should not the same sentiments be extended to the insurgents of 181 ( 3 , who have fou » lit for the same cause and for the same principle-- ? For let us not iimtiikc the case ; it is not in the purely isolated attempts made without due reflection by some inadbrainod young men that we must look for the causes of the late events . No , it is the entire of thc kingdom of Poland , without distinction of religious opi-
Most Important Manifesto Of Tiie Revolut...
nions or provincrs-it is the peasantry , confident of a more auspicious future ( that is to sav , tliey feel confident that they will be freed from all unjust burdens )—it * s Christians and Israelites-it is the children of Lithuania , of Warsaw , of Posen , as well as of Cracow and Gallicia—it is all these scattered elements of our former nationality which by a simultaneous effort resolved to burst their chains , and oppose their life , their liberty , to the slow tortures of their executioners . If the insurrection of last February was not general—if the attempts of the insurgents failed in certain provinces , whilst in others they were suppressed in thc first onset—we shall at a later period be enabled to show the causes and circumstances which paralyzed a movement which
might have proved so baneful to our oppressors . It is sufficient for us to state at present that denunciations , the source of which will one day be unmasked , placed the three Powers which have divided onr unhappy country upon their guard ; that our countrvmon , who left Franco , in the greatest secrecy to assist in the national cause , were , lrom the v erv hour of their departure , subjected to the vi silanee ofthe Austrian and Prussian police ; and that the three Governments , thus put upon their guard , were enabled to adopt suck measures that not a . single Pole who left France was enabled to . reach Poland and that the arrest of several ot the most important personages connected with the conspiracy produced the complete failure of the insurrection .
Notwithstanding the events so fatal to the success of oui projects , and although the provinces where tin arrests took p lace were at that , time not iu a _comli . tion to contribute to the common cause , the insurrection bursts out is different parts of Poland . ! Galjicia , despairing of thu arrival of the detachments ol insurgents intended to occupy certain important points of th , _tt province , was unable to restrain the patriotic ardour of the people , and she set the example of a general devotion to the cause by _asi-umin- ' the revolutionary initiative three days before the 2 h % of February , the period which had been fixed for a general rising throughout tile _kingdom . Cracotv hastened to follow that noble example ; on the 21 st the inhabitants Hew to arms , and on the foll » win »
day the Austrian garrison _evaluated the town . The events of Cracow are already known ; we will not , therefore , at the present period touch upon them . But the journals in tiie pay of Au .-tria have been very careful to conceal the atrocities committed dining the 24 hours that the town , evacuated by the insurgents , was at the mercy of * an infuriate soldicrv , excited , moreover , by drink , which the Austrian authorities wero careful to distribute in profusion . That which the _ofllcial journals ofthe paternal Government of Vienna has been most careful to puss over in silence , is the barbarous order issued by General CoiJin , by which unarmed , _inoffirnsive persons _, feeble women , and innocent children , were shot without pity in the streets of Cracow . Tiie insurgents ,
however , to the number of 400 at thc most , made themselves masters of Cracow ; a National Government , composed of M . Al . Tyssowski , Grzegovzewski , Uorzgowski , and Rogawski , was ii _' stalied . Its first dispositions were taken with wisdom , and no excess marked the short reign of the Government . In order to shape their acts to the spirit that had dictated their proclamation to the Polish people , and to impart more force nnd unity to tho revolutionary power , the members of thc Provisional Government spontaneously nnd voluntarily resigned their functions , and unanimously appointed as dictator M . Tyssowski , an _energetic and upright man , enjoying general confidence in Poland , and who preserved that post until the very last moment . Faithful to their
system of calumny towards the Polish cause , the German journals have described that change of authority as tlie result of intestine feuds between the directors of tho revolutionary government . The spontaneous retirement ofthe National Government sufficiently refutes that calumny , and if any difTe rence of opinion existed among the different members of the first Government , thev could not be injurious to the interest of Poland , * for thc power usurped a moment by M . Wiszniewshi was soon committed to the hands of M . Tyssowski , who possessed the good wishes and sympathy of the nation , and this incident did not endure more than four hours . We are now coming to tlie most frightful episode of those la-t events , to scenes of cruelty which a barbarous
and perfidious Government had dared to impute to the defenders of the Polish cause , and the responsibility of which should injustice fall upon their real authors—upon those who have derived from them an advantage so profitable to their cause . "A detachment of the insurgents of Cracow had been sent into Gallicia to favour the _insurrection of that province . Having reached Gdow on the loth February , instead of meeting with support froM the insurgents of Bothnia and Tarnow , tbey were treated as enemies , and most of them were mercilessly massacred by the peasants . Those who escaped , returned to Cracow , bringing with them some of those peasants . The latter " declared , with tears in their eyes , that in committing those acts of atrocity
towards their countrymen , they had merely obeyed the instigations of the Austrian authorities , and the chiefs of the Craeovian insurgents learned from the mouth of those deluded men bv what infamous means they had been induced to make common cause with their oppressors against the insurrection . Those peasants were for the most part serfs of the Crown ; they had all been in the military service of Austria ; but thc authorities , in order to gain their end with greater certainty , took the precaution of incorporating with them soldiers of a regiment of light horse and other corps , disguised as peasants , whom they did not blush to incite to that execrable butchery . We can here affirm , and we have authentic documents ta prove , that the civil chief of the circle of
Bochnia , named Berndt , and that of Tarnow , M . Breindt , sent emissaries into the villages of Gallicia to gain over the peasantry to the cause of Austria , by persuading them that the Polish nobility had no other object in view than to reduce the peasants to a state of the most cruel slavery , and that the paternal government of Austria would proteet them against the tyrannical projects of the nobility . Those emissaries of Austria promised to pay ten florins for every Polish gentleman whoshould be delivered into their hands , ilead or alive . Those atrocious means succeeded to their full satisfaction , and the peasants , encouraged to commit murder by the lust of gain , excited , moreover , by spirituous liquors , with which they were abundantly supplied , soon perpetrated such
cruelties against the Polish nobility that the agents of Austria , surprised at the unexpected success of their schemes , wero obliged to reduce by one-half the premium promised to the highway murderers . That premium , added the prisoners , was exactly paid to the suppliers of dead _bndi-s . The peasants , onco habituated to those sanguinary _i-xee . ocs , gave no quarter to any body , ami ail ihose who fell into their hands perished , victims of tin ; lustful _raiie uf the assassins . Entire families — men . women , and children — wero thus exterminated ; and their hou e i and castles , delivered up to plunder , afford overwhelming evidence against the promoters of tliose scenes of carnage . Tho Cracovian _insurgents , on their passage through the desolated
country , witnessed that heart-rending spectacle , and the instruments of tliose acts of cruelty came , with tears of despair , to confess to them their sorrow at the -ibuiuiuablc part the government of Austria had made them act on the occasion . But this is not all : the Polish _clergy , in presence of all these atrocities , and wishing to put a period to them , marched out of the uhurulk-s in procession , with all the insignia of the Catholic worship , in the hope that this religious ceremony would allay the murderous rage of the peasants , and restore them to more humane sentiments . But that proceeding did not suit the proj ects of Austria , and those noble clergymen , either killed by the bullets of the Austrian soldiers , or transported to Moravia , paid witli their blood and
libeny for their generous " intervention . Oue word more , to vindicate the national government against a _charge as calumnious as all the others _adducdd against it . The only public chests seized by the insurgents were those of Cracow , Wieliczka , and Podgorze . They contained about 450 , 000 fr ., the greater part of whicli was employed in purchasing arms abroad . Very little remained when the detachment of insurgents crossed the Prussian frontier . We have just exposed the principal causes of the failure of the last Polish insurrection . Under those circumstances the national government , faithful to its plan , which had never been to maintain itself at Cracow , an open city , and deprived of every means of defence , resolved to carry the war into Gallicia , where it would have been joined by other bodies of insurgents now lighting in the Carpathian mountains
and might have prolonged the liostilitits ; but the swell in the Vistula , anil the presence t . f a corps of 12 , 000 Austrians , prevented the execution . of that project . We accordingly determined to re-enter Poland , and our small detachment succeeded in forcing a passage through a far superior Russian force stationed on the frontier . " Ultimately we became convinced of ( he inutility of our endeavours , and not wishing to iiiiLineut the number of victims without advantage Jo our _cittise , wc resolved to proceed to _Vvawce _, _tuvA t ' nevo await a more propitious moment to re-commence the _struggle . Notwithstanding this recent cheek , and the deieat of 1831 , Poland still contains tho elements necessary to attempt a new effort , and achieve at last the ' triumph of our holy cause . _iloweviT powerful and numerous our opponents may be , we trust in thc sanctity of that cause , and are confident that God
Most Important Manifesto Of Tiie Revolut...
has not for ever abandoned the Polish nation to tho mercy of its executioners . _"Ciuulks Rogawski . Secretary of tha National Government * . ' _. " Nicholas Tyssowski . Civil and _Military Prefect of Cracow . " Matthkw Patkrysski _, Military Chief of the Insurgents . _JosKr-H Chlaiikk , Private Secretary of the Dictator .
TUE POPE'S MANIFESTO AGAINST POLAND . "Pope Gregory XVI . to the Venerable Brother * Joseph , Bishop of Tarnow . " In the midst of the very grave solicitude and afflictions with which we are overwhelmed in this great perturbation ofthe civil and Christian republic , we have learned with much pain that in the countries subjected to our very dear son , the Emperor of Austria , apostolic King of Hungary and illustrious lung of . Bohemia , a detestable conspiracy has been undertaken against the sovereignty of that most serene prince—a conspiracy clandestinely carried on by the machinations of those men who , in these sad times , only listen to their _passions , and ,
always agitated like waves of the sea , despise all rule , ami blaspheme the _junjesfy _« f the throne ; of these insidious inventors of lies , who abuse iu .-in impious manner the pretext of public good and religion , and endeavour to deceive the inexperienced minds of the multitude in order to lead them into error , and who excite sedition in order to overturn , if _possible , the rights and established order of all authority , llus grave and afliieting _intelli-itnce , venerable brother , has extremely grieved us , for we are aware how great is the piety of this most serene prince , who has merited wcll from the lloly See , who upholds tho Catholic religion in his states —defends with c _.-iro
those who profess it , and provides with all his power for the happiness < f his people . We are the mere afflicted , that we _understand that several ecclesiastics have been wretchedly deceived by had counsels and intrigues , and that even several euros have dared , in an affair of such great importance , to fail in their duty . "We are persuaded , venerable brother , < lmt by yourpastorhi ! vb / _iJance you will have endeavoured to preserve your flock from seductions and snares , and to make them persevere in the observance of the _pra-epts of the Catholic religion and in fidelity to their sovereign , by remaining ' subject to him not unly through fear , but also by conscientious motives . We , however , address to you this letter in order that
you may inculcate with the _utmost zeal the doctrine of obedience , whieh all subjects owe _absolutelv to the supreme authorities , according to the precepts of the _nposfli ! Paul , aud even of the divine Prime of I asters himself . Do not forget to _l-ccal to their duty tliose ecclesiastic .- * who ' , forge ! ting their obligations and their dignity , dare take part in these _Htttitiiiiis _niuvonii-jits : never cense to exhort your clergy , in order that , calling to mind their vocation , and thinkina seriously of the ministry which they have received _fn-m the Lord , thev may make every effort , both by words and example , to keep Christians , away from the nerti _.-. ious conspiracies ot _seiluioiis men , and to _intusni them that all power comes from God , and that , _ionsequently , this _iltvtne precept cannot be violated without _c-nimitiiu a sin , except wnen anything _i-oulravy to the \ oi
.. . _ns toil and the church should happen to be commanded . We Uo not doubt , venerable brother , the _ZC ' . tl with , which you will second our desires and our counsels , and that you will so act thai the _n-t-k commuted to your care may hold in horror and utterly avoid the mud schemes of unsettled minds , the impious _Hif-vemi-ms of * turbulent m _.- ; , and thanhey may , nccordiii ! : to the Catholic _-lui-inne , par ah i 0 : i-» ur and obedience to their mo > t serene prime .-Meanwhile , wc attest to you , bv this letter , tlie strong feeling of kindness wliich ' we ex-.-rii . iice towards you , ami wc give y „ n tlw _apoitoliu _oem-dio' . lon with nil tlte eltusion ol" our i _. eart _, and with a desire tliatyou and your _iaithful believers may enjoy a veritable felicity . " Given at Rome , near St . Peter ' s , on Feb . 27 th , 1 S 16 , the 16 th year of our pontificate . GnEOORY XVI . *'
Tiie Peasant War in _Gaucu . —Accounts from Galicia state , that tho peasants , far from obeying the order to retire to their homes , have attacked the Austrian troops at various places , and arc commanded by men of great military tactics . Th © number of troops in Galicia does not _exceed 32 , 000 men . It is said that there is an ill-feeling between the Russian and Austrian officers . The Gazette de Voss of the 1 st inst . publishes the following letter , dated Cracow , 23 d ult . : — " During the last four days we have constantly heard the sound of distant cannon from the side of Galicia , and on the evening of the 20 th the horizon was red in several places , as if from the effect of an extensive fire . On the same night an Austrian corps of infantry , with eight pieces of cannon , took the road to Galicia . Other detachments of infantry marched towards Bohemia and Wieliczka . Ail those movements prove tbat the disturbances amongst the peasantry have not yet beeu suppressed . "
A letter from Brombcrg , of the 20 th ult ., says—Potocki , one of the leaders of the late revolt in Poland , has been condemned to death , and executed at Sicdiec .
LATER AND IMPORTANT NEWS FROM POLAND . We before stated that the peasantry in Gallicia had refused to lay down their arms and resisted the * Austrian authorities . It seeing they have formed an entrenched camp in the forest of Niepolomiee . The Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung ot the oth April , gives news from Cracow of the 30 th March , which states that a peasant of the name of Saia is at the head of the insurgents . It is on the following conditions alone that he intends to lay down his arms : — 1 st . —Abolishment ofthe corvee . 2 nd . —Suppression of duties _.
3 rd . —Salt not te be sold at a higher price than Is " , od . the cwt . ( salt , tobacco and stamped paper are the ! three great monopolies of the Austrian government . ) " 4 th . Division of property , one quarter to tho nobles and three quarters to the peasantry . " lt is asserted that a person of eminent talents is at the head ofthe rebels at Tilsna , representing the civil power , whilst Saia is acknowledged military leader .
LATEST NEWS FROM POLAND . TIIE INSURRECTION NOT PUT DOWN . London . Saturday . —A letter from Breslau of the 21 tlt ult . states that a band of insurgents , under a noble , is in _occupation of the forests of the districts of Ostrolewka , which communicates with thc famedforest of Biavelege , in Lithuania , This body is composed _^ oi a race of half noble peasantry , called Kurpies , who from remote time possess lands given to them by bishops or starosts , in remuneration of services rendered to the church or to the country . Thc Kurpies , on multiplying , had partitioned out the lands in numerous portions , but when the estates of the clergy were confiscated by the government , they became tenants of the crown , without being subjected to suit and service . They live in the woodB , engaged in the chase and in smuggling , and are excellent marksmen .
TheNatioualot Thursday mentions having received intelligence respecting _^ he situation ofthe Polish insurgents , and their present organisation . * l hut _journal , howover , dors nut consider it advisable to publish those details , l > ut it announces as positive that on the 22 ud ihe insurgents hud an _ctie-igimeiit with a squadron of . Austrian cav _.-ihy , .-mil _comj-h'tely rouied it , with the loss of twenty-five killed . " This /*" adds the National , Was not their only success . On he _.-iriiy of that defeat , the commander ofthe troops concentrated round Tarnow immediately sent oil : ' two battalions ot infantry and three squadrons of cavalry . This force advanced against the insurgents , who foil buck on n forest , where they had thrown up suineintrcncliments . _TUu _Austriansrjuraheft , the whole of the _iSi-d , anil , after a few _sl-h-mUlies ,, ihey stopped on the approach of night . The insurgents lighted
fires , but , instead of waiting for the enemy , tliey . _pene . _ti-ated into the heart of the forest , where tliey t » ok up positions , little pervious to infantry , but quite inaccessible to cavalry . Whilst these events were passion to t ; , _e south-west of Tarnow , another column of peasants , after being reinforced at _VTerniki and Borec , surprised during the night ihc Austrian garrison of the small town of Chesunow , and put it to thu sword . Our correspondent furnishes us with the following particulars _respecting tho _aft ' air : —" The insurgents , " he says , " who maintained themselves in the forest , attacked in the night of the _2-Uh of March a squadron of Austrian light hors * , garrisoned _, iu ayillago wit tun a short distance of Chesanow , a small towii iu the environs of Cracow , _Evevj man of the squadron wns either taken or killed . Tlie _pcasants _. _tiglit like lions since the Austrians wish to reduce them again _, to their former state of slavery . "
Bankrupts. (From Friday's Gasette, Apr' D 10, 1810j
BANKRUPTS . ( From Friday ' s Gasette , Apr _' d 10 , 1810 J
Edward Foley, Stoke Newingtou.Grcmi. Isl...
Edward Foley , Stoke Newingtou . grcMi . Islington , licensed victualler . —Robert Weathsrhog and Kichaid W ' eatherhog , Stone , Kent , furmers . —Henry Charles Langley , _Suffolk-place , Hackney-road , apothecary . — Thomas Matthews , _Aldj-ate High-street , city , draper . — William Duvey , Pentewan , St . Austell , Cornwall , coalmcrclutnt . —Thus . Richaros , _"Wotton-uudcr-Edgc , Cloucestershire , _wntclininkerr . —Jas . lloulton Oram , . Binning _, ham , brewer , —Martha Illingwovth _. " William . Smith and John Wright , Bradford , _worsted-spiuncrs—John Knight , l _' restou , _inei-ctr . _—Chttilss Henry Cartwrigut , Warrington , Lancashire , grocer . —llenvj Itoo , _Liverpool , goldsmith .
The Scotch Email Laws.—V, R C Observe Th...
The Scotch Email Laws . —V , observe that tho mischievous working of the entail laws is _ag' _* " 1 cx " citing attention iu this country . A meeting was held in _l-dinburgh ot very influential laimcd proprietors o : t the subject ; and we believe proiceiliugs will immediately be taken to obtain a modification , it HOC an entire abolition of the existing law .
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), April 11, 1846, page 1, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns3_11041846/page/1/
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