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FRANCE. Death of a Revolutionist.—M. Pon...
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TO TEE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND. \ TTixow-CGrs...
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THE NEW POOR LAW-THE DAMNABLE DOCUMENT. ...
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THE SCOTCH FISHERIES. An Enquiry into th...
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A CHARTIST TOUR—STATE OF THE MOVEMENT. I...
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A Hint to Gamblers.—In the gambling hous...
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DTJBUH. —The - Chartists of Dublin met a...
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rjfom'ftn i jgtobfmntte. i
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Transcript
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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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France. Death Of A Revolutionist.—M. Pon...
FRANCE . Death of a Revolutionist . —M . Pons do Verdun died at Paris , on -Tuesday , the 14 th inst ., in the 85 ih year of his age . He had been a member of the National Convention , and of the Council of Five Hundred , and Attorney-General in the Court of Cassation under the Empire . Banished by the Restoration , he retired to Brussels , where he resided several years ; but , thanks to the interference of his friend Andrieux , of Count Roy , and of the Duke De Cazes , he was permitted to return to France .
The war in Afbica . —The accounts fro . m Algeria contained in the _Semaphore de Marseilles ofthe 13 th inst . come down to the 10 th . On the 24 th ult . an _engagement took place between the Kabyles and the column commanded by the Duke de Aumale in person . A dense fog which prevailed at the time caused a panic among the soldiers of the Goum , who marched on the flank of the main body , and their precipitate retreat occasioned Borne confusion in the ranks . The Arabs were repulsed , but , it would
appear , not without a serious loss on the side of the French . Ono account estimates at twenty-one the number of their killed , including Lieutenant-Colonel Gallias , whilst others state that they had thirteen officers and upwards of 100 men put hors de combat Two pieces of artillery captured by the Arabs were recovered . Tne march of the expedition under the order of Marshal Bugeaud continued to be impeded by bad weatber , and the two steamers despatched to meet him at Dellys had brought back * o Algiers a great number of sick .
Railways . —In the Chamber of _Deputioft , en Wednesday week , the Minister of Publio Works introduced several railway bill-, which have been looked forward to with great interest by speculators both in Franoe and in England . These d . ff _.-ient bills comprise the formation of railroads to the extent of about five hundred leagues . Tbey are all to be made according to the mixed system laid down in the law of 1842 . The Debals says"The outlay on the part of the State will be about sixty millions of francs per annum during
six years . With the _resouroes at the disposal ot the 3 Iinister of the Interior the amou & t set aside for railroads is available without any embarassment to the Treasury . The outlays , at the expence of Companies will be about 250 millions . The whole comprises an operation of 600 millions , without counting all the _oiher public works which the State executes on the roads , the rivers , the canals , and in the harbours , and independently of that which is expended by powerful public companies , suoh as the Rouen and Havre Railway Company , whose works alone will absorb about forty millions . "
The Chamber of Deputies has at length got through the clauses of tho Prison Reform Bill , and on Saturday the Chamber divided on tho _wholn bill , when it was passed by a majority of 231 to 128 votes . Tho system adopted in this measure is the Pennsylvania _^ _system , somewhat modified .
BELGIUM . Fbightful / ccident on the Brussels and _Antwebp Railway . —A . _Mwtnp , May 18—A dreadful accident has occurred on the railroad from Brussels to Antwerp , at a station four miles from the latter town , named Bad Goed . The train which arrived at this station about five o ' clock was , while in full progress , thrown off the line , and brought in contact ; with a luggage train . The concussion was fearful in the extreme ; three persons were brought in dead last night , fittecn _gmvouely wounded , and about forty wiih contusions more or less serious . The carriages were crowded with passengers , and among thtm several English people . One Englishman was carried to ihe _hoipital of St . Elizabeth , but after having hia wounds dressed was able to be removed to a private residence . I could not learn hit ) name
at the _hospital , as his stay was short , and no record made . Another bad bis faoe severely out and contused , so that his features could not be recognised ; and a third , who , had left hia own carriage and was travelling with his courier , was severely wounded in the legs , but not , it is to be hoped , to require amputation . An English lady is also named as having been killed , but I will not repeat the name , as it is a common one , until lean ascertaiu if the report is correct . Four German bakers who had _beeu in England , and were returning to their employment , got into a carriage which had been reoently painted , but left it for another in consequence of the strong smell of the paint . It was a providential removal , for the newly painted carriage was literally crushed to atoms . A Belgian _advocate had both his legs so frightfully jammed , that amputation appears inevitable .
PORTUGAL . OCTRAGE ON A BRITISH SUBJECT . —LfSBON , TUESDAY , Mat 14 . —Afresh , and , if possible , more atrocious outrage upon the rights of British subjects than that in tho case of Mr . Fletcher , arising from Senhor Cabral ' s V suspension of the guarantees , " is now in the course of perpetration upon a victim of equal respectability , Mr . John Alfred Toier , of Coimbra , brother to the British Consul at Figueira . Mr . _Tczer has now been thirty days under arrest , and dragged during that period through no fewer than six Portuguese prisons ; one tho common felons ' calabonco , or dungeon , at Coimbra ; another the Limoeiro , or ordinary felons' gaol , in Lisbon , sickened with noisome exhalations , and literally covered
with vermin from the persons of his convict associates , a fact which can be proved on oath ; and up to the present moment no formal «> b of acou _« sation nor speoinc chaTge baB been preferred against him , nor any allegation but the vague ono that he was concerned in bribing some soldiers at Coimbra to join the insurgents in Almeida , a charge which , on the two sergeants who affirmed it having been a second time questioned , dwindled down to the still vaguer statement , that he was present when money was offered them . Mr . Tozer is an independent merchant , with no motive whatever to mix himself up
in the contaminating politics of Portugal ; and the secret of his arrest and degradation ( for no amende can prove a compensation to feelings outraged by a forced association of thirty days with the felons , foul air , and vermin of filthy Portuguese dungeons , of six of which he has now had experience ) will be probably found in the faot of his having in a manly and English , but incautious manner , expressed in society his opinion ofthe unconstitutional and despotic proceedings of the rulers of the day . From the first , Mr . _Toier demanded to be brought to immediate trial , a demand which , on various pretences has been svstematically refused to the present time .
The correspondence between the British Consol at Figueira and the Civil Governor , produced no results , and Mr . Tozer has been sent to Lisbon , and is confined in the Castle . This is the fourteenth day ef bis incarceration in the metropolis : and so active have been the movements of the authorities , both Portuguese and British , that we are not informed whether any _stepB have been taken to transfer his case to the Conservatorial Court . It is stated , that as the case has been referred to the Government , he cannot be released without a Royal order ..
BAVARIA . ( From our own Correspondent . J —Beer Riots . — The Bavarian Beer is the most celebrated of all kinds of this drink brewed in Germany , and , of course , the Bavarians are much addicted to its consumption in rather large quantities . The government laid a new duty of about 100 c . ad valorem on beer , and in consequence of this an outbreak occurred , which lasted more than four days . The working men assembled in large masses , paraded through the streets , assailed the public houses , _smaehing the windows , breaking the furniture , and destroying everything in their reach , in order to take revenge for the enhanced price of their favourite drink . The military was called in , but a regiment
of horse-guards , when commanded to mount on horseback refused to do so . The police , being , as everywhere , obnoxious to the people , were severely beaten and ill-treated by tbe rioters , and every station formerly occupied by police-ufficers , had to be occupied by soldiers , who , being upon good terms with the people , were considered less hostile and showed < in evident reluctance to interfere . They only did interfere when the palace of the king was attacked , and then they merely took up such a position as was sufficient ; to keep the rioters back . _^ On the _Becond evening ( the 2 nd of May ) the King , in whose family a marriage had just been celebrated , and who for this reason had many illustrious visitors at his conrt , visited the theatre ; but when , after the first
act , a crowd assembled before tbe theatre and threatened to attack it , every one left the house to see what the matter was , and his Majesty , with his illuEtrions _visitors , was obliged to follow them , or else he would have been left alone in bis place . The French papers assert that the King on this occasion ordered the military stationed before the theatre to fire upon the people , and that the soldiers refused The German papers do not mention this , as may be expected from their being published under censorship ; but as the French papers are sometimes rather ill-informed about foreign matters , we cannot vouch for the truth of their assertion . From all this , however , it appears , that the Poet-King ( Ludvig , Kine of
: Bavaria , is the author of three volumes of unreadable Poems , of a Traveller's Guide to one of his public buildings , & c . & c . ) has been in a very awkward position during these outbreaks . In Munich , a town full of soldiers and police , the 6 eat of a royal court , a riot lasts four days , notwithstanding all the array of the military , —and at last the rioters force their object . The King restored tranquillity by an ordinance , reducing the price of the quart of beer from _tenkrentzers ( 3 _| d ) to nine krentzers ( . 3 d ) . If the people once know , that they can frighten the government ont out of their taxing system , they will soon learn that it will be as easy to frighten them as far as _i"egards more serious affairs .
PRUSSIA ( From our own _Correspondent . _)—^ The _parsonocracy of tLns country , enjoying the peculiar protection and _fas _. 'Dr ef the present government , assume every day a . more : haughty position . It has , for instance , lately occurred in Borlin , that ono parson after the other _rOiused to perform marriage ceremonies on a Saturday _^ alleging as hiB reason for this _refusal f _^ \ _fae v _^ ' m would _& All probability not
France. Death Of A Revolutionist.—M. Pon...
rise on Sunday morning in a fit state of mind for the cele bration of the Lord ' s day , if thoy were married on the provious day ! Of course tho Borliners , who care very little about a due celebration of the Sunday , and on the contrary make it the merriest day of the week , are crying out that the governing party was going to introduce among thorn " the English Sunday , " than which they know nothing more formidable . Indeed , tho English Sunday is most r epugnant to the feelings aud habits ot all o > ntinental nations .
RUSSIA . ( From our own Correspondent . J—Considerable ministerial changes have occurred in St . Petersburg . The Minister of Finance , M . Canorin , has fallen into disgrace , and the same is reported concerning the Police Minister , the well-known Count Benkendorff . Nicholas is evidently struggling to keep up a system which is rapidly ruining itself . The anti-Russian feeling in Germany and the other continental states is upon the increase , notwithstanding all the efforts of Nicholas ' s paid literary army . The financial state of the government is one great difficulty ; the pomp of the court , the innumerable army of policemen and spiesthe _expenoes of diplomatists , spies , reporters ,
, of seoret intrigues , and bribery all over Europe , the army and navy , and the endless wars against the Circassians , have eaten up everything that taxes and loans could bring together . The restrictive commercial policy of M . Canorin has made foreign trade in some parts of the empire almost impossible , and has failed to establish a system of national industry at home . Among the nobility , three parties are to be traced distinctly—the court , the old country nobility , and the officers of the army . They are intriguing constantly against each other , their object of course being nothing else but exclusive dominion over the person of the Emperor , who , as all despots , is , afier all , only the fool of his favourites .
ITALY . Progress ot Revolt . —Malta papers of the 8 th inst ., contain the following : — Extract of a letter from Trieste received via Corfu : —¦» " We have received news ofa most lively interest from Trieste , under the date ofthe 15 th April . The seed of resistance to the religious and political absolutism ofthe Holy See , which has been for a long time creeping amongst the Italian clergy , and which the Roman court always endeavoured by all means to suppress and conceal , has acquired in these latter times a publio and imposing character . The number of secular aud regular clergymen arrested \ for preaching against the actual political
and religious system is stated to be not less than 70 . On the other hand , then , everything acquires also much gravity on the side of the revolutionary spirit throughout the pen _i nsula . The Austrian Government has deemed it necessaay to put Venice in a state of quasi siege . Its garrison has been increasod to 11 , 000 men . One frigate is constantly and openly kept with her guns turned against the city . Defections in tho Austrian army still continue . In these latter days twenty Italian and Hungarian officers are said to have disappeared from the corpB in which these two nations serve promiscuously . The la 6 t
news from Milan states , that a strong band had appeared on the Lombardian hills , to whioh are attached some youth from the highest families in Lombardy . The Court of Vienna has showed itself very much alarmed at these preliminaries , inasmuch as'they announce a new sera to Italy . The Archduke Giovanni , the Austrian Admiral , and the Viceroy were' authorised to offer free pardon to the sons of Rear-Admiral Bandiera , in order that they may return to their posts ; and also to extend this measure to all tho officers of the army who may be in the same condition , and who would accept of this pardon on taking a new oath .
GREECE . _Letters from Athens of the 30 th ult . states , that the members ofthe Holy Synod having , at the instigation of Russia , declined to take the oath to the Constitution , M . Mavrocordato gave them twentylour hours to consider of it , threatening , in case of refusal , to dissoive their body , and appoint others in their place . The firmness displayed by the Minister had the effect of removing the scruples of the Bishops , and after offering some apology for their resistance , they complied with the required formality . HAYTI .
The following appears in the Times : —A mercantile letter from Cape Haytien , dated the 4 'h of April , contains a very full account of those turbulent _affiirs that have lately brought the island of Hayti so prominently before the public . As it presents the facts iu regular order , the substance of it may with advantage be repeated . In the month of January a calm seemed to prevail over Hayti , an increase of confidence was general , and the hope was diffused of a period of prosperity after the frightful calamities that have visited the unfortunate island . The hope was speedily dissipated . In the beginning of March , the Spaniards , who occupy the eastern and most valuable part of the island , and who never liked the union with the
French , set forth their grievances in a public _manifesto , and then flaw to arms , declaring themselves a free and independent state ,, separate from the llaytian Republic . The Spanish population not being more than one-third of the French , the President thought he could crush the insurgents at a _single blow ; and therefore he j » ut under arms the entire male population of the French part of tho island , without exception . He left Port-au-Prince on the iOth of March , and with aa army 30 , 000 strong , set out for St . Domingo . His first encounter was at Azua , a small town of about 6 , 000 inhabitants , where , it is said , two regiments of his advanced guard were cut to pieces . _However , coming up the next day with the main body of his army , he forced
the Spaniards to retire upon Barii , and ultimately occcupied the town , which he found abandoned by every soul . The loss before Azua was estimated at 1 , 100 , and by the last accounts from Port-au-Prince ii appeared that tho President had not advanced , but was awaiting further reinforcements , though ho had removed a short distance from the place , to avoid the stench of the dead bodies , whioh had not been interred . General Pierot was active on the north side of tho island . He had mustered 18 , 000 men on the frontiers at Daxabou . In the meanwhile , the Spanish General Salcedo having marched from Santiago , advanced with a body of 8 , 000 men to within eight miles of the Haytian forces , and then sent two ' officers , escorted by four dragoons , with a
flag of truce , explaining to Pierot that the objr . ct of his mission was not hostility , but the occupation of the frontiers of the Dominican republic . Daxabou being on the Spanish frontier , and occupied by Hay tian troops , some explanation was required . General Pierot , far from respecting the flag of truce , seized the officers and men , stripped off their coats , sidearms , & ci ., which he distributed among his soldiers , and then marched off to Cape Haytian , where he confined the six persons in a dungeon only eight feet Fquare , and prohibited all communication with them . They were still in this wretched condition at the date of the letter . The Spaniards now retired before Pierot to draw him into the interior , when on the 24 th of March he s et out from Daxabou with all the troops that the north could muster . His orders were to take Santiago at any sacrifice of life , and then to cross the country , and join the President for a combined attack upon the city of St .
Domingo . On the 29 th he reached Santiago , and found that the Spaniards had assembled a force of about 5 , 000 men on an advantageous position in the outskirts of the town . The Haytian army was formed ( skilfully , it is said ) in three divisions , the right under the command of General Cadet Autoine , the left under General St . Louis , _atd the centre under General Pierot . The Spaniards quietly allowed the army to approach , and when it was close , poured such _showers of grape and musketry that the Haitians were thrown into confusion . In vain they rallied j the Spaniards alone remained victorious , and the Haytian army was forced to retreat , reduced , it is reported , to less than 1 , 000 men . Tho Spaniards now left their lines , and are said to have sustained little or no loss . General Pierot found it necessary after the action , to send a flag of truce , but th--result of the mission had not transpired .
In the opinion of the writer of the letter , this result was decisive in favour of the independence of the Spaniards ; and the merohants seem to regard this issue with satisfaction , as the policy of the Spaniards is more liberal and enlightened than that of the _Haitians . Business was of course at a complete stand-still . The French journals contain news from Port au Prince of the 8 th . There was no information of anything decisive in the way of battle or acoommoi dation between the Spanish and French portions of ' the island . The President had advanced upon Santo Domingo after the last encounter , but was said to wait for reinforcements . His whole plan _, however , would be overthrown by a revolution which his absenceThe
had taken place at Cayea during . insurgents complained that the constitution voted in December had not been put in vigour , and they upset Herard ' s government , practising many cruelties . Though the particulars are not known , it is much feared to be a reaction of blacks against mulattos , though Herard sedulously sought to avoid exciting any enmity between these races . The French admiral . Dee Moges , had arrived at Saint Domingo , and offered the President his mediation , which the latter refused . The Courrier du Havre speaks of the French admiral having demanded possession of the port and bay of Samana , to be kept till tho _settlement of French claims . This would be indeed one way of uniting all the contending parties of Hayti _<
MONTE VIDEO Ar _* _T > BUENOS AYRES Liverpool , Friday E ' _vemno . —The following ateresting communication , _Vhich has been received _a-day by an eminent _mercantile house here , from ; s correspondent at _Monte-Videos Wl 11 be read with iterest by all who have business P _* other concerns rith tho Rivtr Plate . Montevideo , Feb . 27 th , 1844 , " The war , siege , and bloodshed _Si'M cominue ; te former shows but little symptoms o _? beiug soon _rer though latterly several very imporU'V _^ opera-
France. Death Of A Revolutionist.—M. Pon...
tions have taken place , and a littlo more or less to our advantage . The day that will see it brought to a close , if in favour of this republic , will indeed be glorious . Of the siege , we are now in the second year ; that shews we ) are not to be starved out so easily as the enemy imagine ; neither were our troops to be frightened by tho appearance of their great force , nor of death by starvation or the sword . We have stood manfully . The blockade will continue , I dare say , until one side or the other has been conquered . On Saturday a strong body of national cavalry , commanded by Colonels Floris and Estivas , made their appearance , coming towards the Mount ; they had to pass an equal foroe of the enemy ' s cavalry , which was over there ; they crossed a little river , [ and then rushed at the Blancoes , who fled in alt ! directions : they left fourteen killed on the field , and took twelve prisoners ; on onf
side , there were two killed and four wounded . A small party had taken from tho enemy about 900 oxen and a quantity of horses ; but being _attacked by a much larger force , they could only save 150 oxen and the _horBes . 1 Some infantry were sent the same night , and since then about 2 , 000 men have gone over . Sunday and Monday were like fair days there , as the wives and sisters of the soldiers had gone over , I have no doubt , for the sake of getting somo fresh beef , as they came back with what they could carry . Since their return they havo been fighting ; they are at it now , I hear them firing . On Sunday and Monday the _Blancoes did not muster many , but on Tuesday and to-day they have about 2 , 000 cavalry aud 300 infantry . General Paz was over yesterday , and had all the men under arms , and all the oavalry mounted , ready for an attack on the Cerrito , when it commenced to rain , consequently they were compelled to return .
FOREIGN MISCELLANY . Gaming Houses . —The Nuremberg Correspondent states from Frankfort ! that the Germanic Diot is to be occupied during the present session with the abolition of all the gaming-houses in the states of the confederation . Horrible . —A _Danizic journal publishes the following : — " The cliergymmn of a village in Lithuania bad amongst his parishioners a young man dreadfully given ! to intoxication . Finding all other means of reforming him useless , he took him one day to church , and there made him solemnly , in the presence of the image of Christ , that he would abstain altogether from spirituous liquors . In the evening of the _Bame day , the young man met some friends , who invited him to a public house . He refused , and told them the _mo'ive of
his refusal , for which he was to ridiculed , tbat he at length consented to accompany them , and soon fell dead drunk from his chair . In this state the publican had bim removed to the house of his father and mother , who being very religious persons , and knowing the oath that he had taken , were much shocked at his perjury . They called together all the members of the family , and it was decided that he had made himself the slave of the Devil , and that it would be pleasing to God to put him to death immediately . They consequently mixed some pulverised arsenic in an infusion of herbs , and _giving it to the drunkard , who was still in-sensible from the fumes ofthe brandy that he had taken , he died in a few hours , in violent convulsions . His murderers have been arrested , and will be brought to trial , for a crime committed by them under an idea that it would be agreeable to ! the Almighty . "
The Frenchman ' s Grave . —New troops are about to be Bent to Algeria , which has now become what Italy was said to be in the wars of the middle ages —the Frenchman ' s grave . Great Undertaking—Captain Sir James Alexander is exploring the country preparatory to the formation of a grand military road , which is to connect together the threle provinces of Canada , New Brunswick , and Nova : Scotia , and to keep open the communication between Canada and England , by way of Halifax , when the waters of the St . Lawrence are frozen . | M . Thiers has completed his history ofthe reign of Napolean . He is to receive half a million of francs lor the manuscript .
To Tee People Of Scotland. \ Ttixow-Cgrs...
TO TEE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND . _TTixow-CGrsTBTJiES , —Again the important duty j _devolves upon ns to call upon yon to aronse from your t present slumber , and to enter once more the field of EctiTe agitition , _thst another _Brcuitancoa ? end onergetic tffort may be _madt to liberate _yowseJyes from the power of class tyranny , class _legislation , snd domestic oppression . Do you want an incentive to « rge you to thiB ? Look at your _degraded ecustry . Look to your c ffepring whom you are rearing for slavery by your apathy . The cause of the misery of your country and your offspring is class legislation . You are an enlightened people ? yet are you politically enslaved . T «* n are ingenious and industrious ; yet thousands of yon are deprived of the necessaries -of life . —Why ?• \ ; ; _, _> i
_Because it is the interest of those who legislate for you that you should be politically fettered , that they may have the power to revel in the fruits of your indus- try and Ingenuity . - _Every thing which has added value and wealth to our country has almost exclusively emanated from the working classes , and yet these classes are not re- cognised as men in the body politic . Nay , they are scorned and . trampled upon by those to whose pleasure and prtfligacy their ingenuity and industry ia made ] subservient . This social degradation is the e & pring of ; onr political thraldom . Let it be so no longer . Throw j off the lethargy which has overcome you , and demand ' those pririleges _, which , if rightly demanded , 4 axe not ; _Jje refused . i "We are _svare that you will acknowledge the truth j of these observations ; hut more than this mere ac-|
_knowledgment is necessary . We must haTe your per- •• . severing assistance . We must have jour pecuniary and ! moral aid . "We must have ihe benefit of your co-opera- j tion , or all the _tfforta and energies that a few ean bring ! to the support of the agitation for the Charter will be J in _~ vain . J Let no one keep back from joining us from the idea ( that his _assistance will do no good . That one with his > efforts and h fluenee will add _stw strength . Individuals ] form the great aggregate ; tbe great globe is a combi- j nation of particles ; the mighty ocean a concentration of j drops . TJnita make thousands . Forward then , one by j one , till the anited strength of our country is ranged on ] the ride of freedom .
Let no one hold back with the idea that he can do more good in a local or sectional , than in a national concentrated capacity . There must be a national bond of brotherhood , —aaiational union of principle , of purpose , and of polity . " Union is strength ; " but in order to have this strength there must be a union of sections . There is a union of / your oppressors ; this must be met with a National Union on yonr part , or yon will faiL Tbey are strong and combined in the wrong ; you must be . strong and combined in tbe right , and your agitation carried on with a rectitude becoming mpn labouring in the holy cause of universal freedom , will ultimately prevail . " He that is not with us is against us . " The man -who opposes this Union , or keeps aloof from it , is adding to the enemy's strength , and ia investing that enemy with additional _powers to coerce us into a more abject position than the one we are now placed in .
In order to have a wide-spread public opinion in our favour , talented individuals must be engaged as lecturers . The expected visit of Mr . O'Connor will do immense good to our cause . Bnt we must have othtrs whose ronte we can chalk out , well acquainted with the _science of government , and vrho know the working of the present _system , and can depict , without exaggeration , the wrongs suffered by the unenfranchised . Such individuals wonld be cf immense value to tbe cause of liberty , by _tff-cting such an Organization as would make ns _xeassnme the position we lately held . "We have much need of snch individuals , to develops fearlessly and fairly our principles ; to meet the charges and rebut the falsehoods of our enemies , and to remove prejudices from the minds of the ignorant . -But to _effect this we must have your co-operation ; upon it we depend , and we trust we shall not be disappointed .
If this appeal ia not responded to , complain no more of tbe iron rod of misrule pressing heavy upon you , when yon will not make an effort for its removal No jnore complaints of oppression and injustice , while yon ¦ are emphatically your own oppressors—no more complaints of poverty and wretchedness , when you are willing partieB to endure without murmuring that wretchedness and poverty which is annihilating every moral feeling asd 'virtuous emotion of the Bonl , _finVfng your country into degradation , _Jand bringing your offspring to a premature grave . Parties wishing to enter Into co-operation of means for the purpose of bringing lecturers from England to arouse the dormant energies of the people , are requested to enter immediately into communication with "William Brown , No- 30 , John-street , Bridge End , Glasgow . Jas Shith , Chairman , _Dtscas S _^ _evixgton _, " William _Browx , Dexms _M'Millas , _BOBEBT BrRRELL , JOHS COLQUBOr > -. Glasgow , May 13 , _ISii .
The New Poor Law-The Damnable Document. ...
THE NEW POOR LAW-THE DAMNABLE DOCUMENT . TO THE BISHOPS OF LONOON AND CHESTER . My Lords , —I have waited with some impatience , and now almost with a feeling of despair , to see the Poor Law Amendment Bill brought forward . Why Ministers should delay probably tbe most important measure of the whole session—why * hey should " higgle and haggle * upon detached parts of it , as the Bastardy Clause—without bringing the whole forward , 1 cannot conceive ; for let it be observed , this ie not a Bill of Dspartmenta—it is not a Bill having _reference to thia or that particular service—but a Bill for the whole people , as rate-payers and _rate-receivers—a national Bill—and therefore , in that character , ought both to claim precedence , and to eng ;> . ge the general attention of the Legislature .
My Lords , you stand in a peculiar situation with respect to this bill , and the p 9 ople of England look with anxiety to the course which you will now pursue . You two prelates were members of the original Commission ; you voted in support of the Bastardy Clause , which your brother of Exeter stigmatised at the time as " iniquitous , unrighteous , and unmanly "—everything that waa base and horrible—tending also to the two dreadful crimes of infanticide and suicide—and which Sir James Graham now himself _proposes to relinquish , as being liable to all the obloquy which was _poured upon it by that Right Rev . Prelate's eloquence ; and further , as having tended to insurrections in South Wales , and throughout tbe North of England . Nor Is this all : you are also charged with participation in that dark production drugged to light last year in the House of Commons , containing the following passages , for which you ara as mauh answerable as if they Were yonr own writing , and which form the basis o ! the subsequent Poor Law : —
" That at any time after the passing of this act , tha Board of Control shall have power , by an order , with such exception as shall be thought necessary , to disallow the continuance of relief to the indigent , the aged and the impotent , in any other mode tban in a workhouse , regulated in such manner as by the aforesaid Board of Control shall be determined . " The power of the Commissioners would be to reduce allowances , but not to enlarge them . * ' After this baa been accomplished , orders may be sent forth directing that after Buch a day all oat-door relief should be given partly in kind ; after another poriod it should be wholly in kind ; that after another period it should be gradually diminished in quantity , until that mode of relief was extinguished . From the first the relief should Joe altered in quality , coarse browa bread being substituted for white ; and , 'concurrently with these measures as to the out-door poor , a gradual reduction should be made in the diet of the in-door poor , and strict regulations enfored . "
What is the course you now mean to pursue ? When the _Poir Liw Bill will be brought forward , no one can tell : all is trick , chicanery , and treachery , with respect to that measure . But the Factory Bill , which is to come under discussion on Monday in your Lordships * House , contains the twelve hours' clause , and it ia not improbable tbat that clause will be discussed with pome reference to the kindred measure of the Poor Law Bill . The Duke of Wellington has denied that such a document as that to which I bave alluded is , or ever was , in existence—that there never was any recommendation to give bad _faod , and scanty measure of it to the poor . His Grace ' s words were" Knowing , as I do , my Lords , that no such document ever existed , I will venture , in this House , to deny the assertion altogether . I again repeat that no such document ever existed . "
Sir James Graham , on the centrary , allowed of its existence , not at first indeed , but after he had received some powerful refreshers of his memory . His words were aa follow : — " Although these propositions WERE SUBMITTED to the consideration of Lord Grey ' s Government , they were rejected by tha ; Government " Now , what say you , my _LordB , between these contradictions ? You must know the fact ; for you are charged with participating in the now avowed criminality of the document . If , with Sir James , you allow of its existence , I have nothing more to Bay to you at present ; but if , with the Duke , you deny that existence , then you will , of course , make this fact known to the public by some authentic method , such aa tbe appointment of an impartial committee to inquire into the case . I have the honour to be , Your Lordships' obedient servant , Christianus Antiochensis London , May 17 , 1844 .
The Scotch Fisheries. An Enquiry Into Th...
THE SCOTCH FISHERIES . An Enquiry into the : manner in _ichich the White Fishery is at present conducted , along the Eastern Shores of the Coast of Scotland , Orkney and Shetland , with a feio suggestions how this Branch of Trade might be improved and rendered a source of National Wealih . Mr . Edit _© r , —The subject which I am about to treat is of such vast importance to the public generally , and to none so much as those who toil for
their daily bread , that 1 tremble least I should fail to do it ample justice . ! I know there are many who have gone before me , arid theoretically written on the fisheries , treating the subject in many particulars correctly , but in as many instances have also been guilty of egregious errors . To correct these , this short sketch of the present modo of conducting the fishery is undertaken ,: and also , to arouso men of capital , spirit and understanding , wherever situated in the country , to embark iu this highly impoitant but hitherto completely mismanaged trade .
Before proceeding farther I may mentiou , that during the past forty years , I have had an opportunity of visiting all the principal fishing stations on the Scotch coast , and likewise have been considerably engaged in the fishing trade , not alone as respects purchasing fish when brought on shore by the fishermen , but also , in conducting fishing vessels at sea , whero the fish were taken and cured on board ; and I never knew an instance where a profitable return for the expence laid out was not doubly secured , when the cures were persevering . For many years I have thought the land proprietors opposed to prosecuting the deep sea fishery on an extended scale ;
indeed , some of the most intelligent of these , have expressed to myself their firm conviction , that were able companies in this country to follow the example of the Americans and the Dutch , the rearing of cattle would cease as a profitable speculation ; and this would operate with a deadly tffjet on the rental of the country which is at present raised from the sale of live stock . Nothing I think , can be more evident than this : for if the people had plenty of fish , which could be conveyed to them daily , in excellent order by the rail roads ; There little beef would be required , which is the case already in the close vicinity of the fishing stations , the _; cattle dealers are compelled to look i elsewhere for customers for
their beasts . In the meantime , the fishery is chiefly confined to the Haddock and Herring trade . If we go to Orkney and Shetland , Ithe Cod and Ling fishery is better prosecuted ; but the fishermen being sent out by their lairds , receive ; merely a scanty livelihood ; and those who _venturejout in open boats , upon their own account are littleibetter off , for they arc com-, pelled to sell them to the wealthier portion , who kaow how to manage blatters for their own advantage . This disheartens the fishermen so much , that the most active of them who can get away , prefer a voyage to Davis Straits or Greenland , at thirty shillings a month , rather than toil at the fishing of Cod , when it only affords them the coarsest fare during the summer , and no provision for the winter , of
except what they may ihappen luckily to pick om the sea , in any ofthe days which find them shelter . It could hardly beiexpected that a trade could prosper in the hands -of men so poorly rewarded ; yet so it does in no ordinary degree ; for the crews are paid a small sum } for every ton of fish caught , and v . hich Would amount to about a half farthing for each cod fish to be jdivided among the crew ; yet the fish is so exceedingly abundant , and the orews so _expert in the art of splitting and curing the fish , that they seldom fail jto load their 6 hips . If the Orkney men are poorly paid , the Shetlanders are more so ; and what adds greatly to this hardship , the trado in that northern latitude is extremely dangerous for suoh small vessels as they use , and were it not that the fi _* h lie near the shore , those
who go out would many times experience great _hazird in returning . From all that I have seen or heard , the Shetland fishermen seem to be treated more like beasts , than human beings . They have become , by a long course of training , reduced to a state of insensibility aud mental torpitude , which mu 3 t astonish every person of discernment who visit those Islands . The Lairds and ministers have got a complete mastery j over them , and have forbidden , under pain ofa total exclusion from employment , the reading of any newspaper , and all books except tho Bible : and ! this order is pretty well attended to . The Truck system is carried on here in all its _blessednoss . j The Shetlanders finger no money , if possible ; sol of course they can purchase
neither newspapers nor books ; and when any of them wish to go to Davis Straits or Greenland , the laird must first grant liberty , who claims the right to draw tho monthly pay and oil money , for which trouble he exacts one pound , and the balance is generally paid in cloths and other goods . In spiteof the most unpromising circumstances , andin defiance of every insult and fraud that is practised against this hardy people , they go to sea at all hazards , in their frail barques , and keep their ground on the fishing banks in weather which would frighten their more southern brethren of the same calling . When we come south to the May Frith , and cast our eyes along the eastern shore , as far as Holy Island , we see the fishery conducted upon the same old-fashioned and thriftless principle : _namely ,
fishing in small open boats of about twenty feet of keel for haddocks . These ! boats carry four men ; and although six or more wore to join the crew , the success is proportionally the same . They never vent nre to sea but under the most promisiug weather , ai id each man carries to sea , about 1 , 000 baited hooks .-Tho lines are called " small lines , " and the team to whioh the hook is made fast is composed of horse hair , which is neatly fastened to a small cord called a snood , which is attached to the line by a clove hitch .,. Four men ' s Hues thus rigged will extendi 2 , 048 fathoms , and if completely _counted are calculated to ensure 4 , 000 fish . These boats seldom ] exceed ten miles from \ laud , but more frequently I they aro found to stop short at half that distance _, and from the moment they shoulder their lino to go to eea , all is agitation , and thty run like _race-horaea
The Scotch Fisheries. An Enquiry Into Th...
to the boat ? , _refusing to speak to any one whom they may happen to pass . Should it beca ' m _. they pull to _Bea like madmen , very seldom exchanging a single word with each other , until the lines are laid , when most frequently the general conversation turn 3 _upan the state of the weather . If it be calm they a » _-e afraid they will havctopuU all the way tothe harbour ; if it blows , they are afraid of a storm ; if they see the lea _* t appearance of fish , they are afraid of too many , if otherwise , they declare there will be none ; and should a _dotf-fish stray within their s ght , they become extremely alarmed , and fly to their lines with fury : so they are in continual fear aud
perplexity from the moment they go to sea until they land . Should it happen , as it frequently does , that the haddocks keep without thoir proscribed limits they attribute their want of success to ill luck ' and not unfrequently to the witchcraft and cunning cantrips of some old wife in town whom they may have offended ; and should the minister pop in while they are in the act of bating their lines , not a single hook more would be baited that day . I know there are exceptions , of even whole towns , who do not follow these barbarous customs They gradually vanish as we proceed _southward ; but I know the majority ofthe fishermen along the shore are totally incapable of conducting the fishery on an
extended scale . The fishery to be rendered profitable must be undertaken by less superstitious , less fearful , and far more intelligent men ; men who can examine th <» chart ; men who can keep a ship's reckoning at sea ; men who , like the Datch and Newfoundlanders , are possessed of hearts that will keep the sea in all weathers , and embrace each _sacceeding opportunity . In my next , I shall lay open the method I would adopt , and on its complete success I would fearlessly stake the labours of a season . In the meantime , I beg to remain , Most respectfully yours , ... . , „ , _, » , John Smart . Aberdeen , 13 th May , 1844 .
A Chartist Tour—State Of The Movement. I...
A CHARTIST TOUR—STATE OF THE MOVEMENT . I Mr . Editor—As many Chartists and numbers who are not bo , are frequently enquiring how the cause of - _, Chartism is situated , it may gratify yonr "readers to ' receive an account of the position of the towns I have visited , from my departure from the Convention , to my ' return to Birmingham . ] shall describe each place faith- fully . I addressed two meetings at the Carpenter ' a ! Hall , Manchester , where I met an attentive and enthu- i Elastic audience on both occasions , and also attended the i great public meeting held in Stevenson ' s square . From what I witnessed in Manchester , I look upon Chartism _> ss all-triumphant in that great emporium of the cotton i trade . I visited Stockport twice , and found the lads j
there to be real out and outers—full of energy , and j divested of every particle of humbug . At Salford I addressed a good meeting in the Chartist room , where ' * similar spirit was displayed . At T > ukin 8 eld there did not seem to be that general feeling on our side which is to be met with in the other towns of Lancashire ; but those who belong the Association are a noble and sincere " body of men . The Oldham men held a meeting in their room , Greaves-street , which I addressed ; it was well attended , and a noble spirit of perseverance and determination displayed ; they axe building a _splendid "Hali of hewn _Btooe , which will contain many thousands . At Rochdale we had a meeting in the Assembly Soomr _, well attended , and a number of new members were enrolled . Lancashire , sofa ? as 1
can judge from the above samples seems to be all right ; in fact the working classes seem mainly to be Chartists . At Bradford , in Yorkshire , 1 addressed a meeting in front of the Odd-Fellows Hall , which meeting convinced me that if properly attended to , Bradford would become , what it formerly was , one of the strongest holds of Chartism in England . At Leeds we had a Tery numerous meeting in T car ' s Croft , on the Sunday afternoon , and a crowded one in their splendid Hall at night . They are " going a-haad '' in fine style . At Sheffield I _attended a meeting of 15 . 000 in _Paradise-Kquare , when an unanimous rote of thanks was returned to T . S . Duncombe , Ef q ., for his gallant conduct on the "Masters and Servants' BilL" Mr . -Duncembe ib highly popular in Sheffield . Mr . West also addressed
themeeting , and I was mnch pleased to see the esteem in which he Is held by tbe working men ef that town . We had a meeting at night in the Chartist room , Fig-Tree-lane , and enrolled forty-four new members . At Xeieester I addressed a , large meeting in the Marketplace , on Thursday evening , in company with . Mr . Bairstow . Oh Sunday morning we had a meeting in the Abbey Mea 4 ow , the property of thetreemea . Mr . Bairstow preached Lord Abinger ' s funeral sermon in the Market-place , in the evening , and had a "very large congregation . I addressed a meeting in the large room Church-gate , at night . It iB needless to _aay that Chartism is in a flourishing condition in Leicester . I ' passed through Coventry on my way home . No time for a meeting , as it was half-past eight on _Monday ;
evening , when the coach arrived , and I had to start for ' Birmingham early on the following morning . We are j not doing much either here or in the other towns in ' > Warwickshire . Bat from what I know of thk district , and have seen in the parts I have lately visited , I am eoBTOHsed that Chartist principles are widely _fiinnsed , j and highly ap _^ _reostrf by the working men . Some , people judge of our strength by the amount of shouting they bear tiom time to time . I am content to know _< that the mass # r intelligent men amongst the working Classes , are fully convinced of the justice or Chartist principlee . All that ia now required is industry in organizing the opinion created , and a genecal fund'lor ! the further extension of our principles . Tours truly George White . !
A Hint To Gamblers.—In The Gambling Hous...
A Hint to Gamblers . —In the gambling houses broken into by the police last week , falses die were found among the gambling implements seized . The brass divisions of the roulette tables are in most of these dens so formed as to present an obstruction to tho entrance of tho ball , at the will of the manager of the table . Advertisement Extraordinary . — " Adam ' s Pale Ale . —The above celebrated liquid , so strongly recommended by Father Mathew , and the faculty of Priessnilz _, may be procured in any quantity from the pump in Burlington Gardens , by applying yourself to the handle . —Be particular to enquire for the ladle . "—Punch .
The Cold Water Cube . —The ordinary punishment at the Boston House of Correction is a shower bath . The offender is placed in a very narrow box , with a collar round his neck , and three or four barrels of ice cold water are poured over him in succession ; it is 6 aid that it cowes and subdues the most refractory . — Weekly Dispatch . [ The above , if true , is monstrous . We are surprised that if anything more than a joke , our contemporary should have let it pass without comment . We repeat that if true , this infernal torture is a disgrace to the nation tolerating it . —E . N . S ]
The Vowels . —Is there a word in tbe English language that contains all the vowels ! There is , _wnquesU ' oiiably . —English Paper . —[ There is another which coutains them m the natural order , viz : — facetiously . —Belfast Whig ] The _Hatmahket Prize Cosiedv . —The committee appointed by Mr . Webster to award the prize oi £ 500 for the best prose comedy , illustrative of modern British manners and customs , concluded their labours on Saturday , their twentieth me eting _, by unanimously adopting the piece , entitled tl _Q'lid pro Q , _'io , or the Day of the Dupes . " It is by a lady , and one who is by no means unknown to literary fame . [ The Sun states the lady to be Mrs . Charlea Gore . ]
A Break-dp . —The Metropolitan Conservative Society has dissolved itself ; the reason assigned ia that they have been " abused , insulted , and betrayed by the Government . The Texas . —The German Society for Emigration to Texas has purchased 450 square miles of that country , St . Antonio de Baxar , and send their first batch in September . —Aug & burgh Gazette . [ Threefourths of these poor wretches will perish , as the German emigrants to the West India Islands perished . ] « The Albert Cap , in spite of all the quizzing of Punch , has been issued to some of the infantry regiments . It bears a striking resemblance to a flower-pot turned upside down , and has drawn upon the unfortUKato wearers of it , at Bath an d other placesa great amount of ridicule
, . . ,. _; Gipsy Wit . —A short time since two young ladie 3 t were accosted by a gipsy woman , who told tnera j that for a shilling eaoh , she would show them tbeii husbands' faces in a pail of water ; which being I brought , tbey exclamed , " we see only our own fa ?** ' " Well , " said tbe old woman , " those faces will he your husbands ' . " The Murderer Crouch .-William Crouch , who _wa's found guilty at the last sitting of the Central Crii "oinal Court , of murdering his wife , _fc _" _* . " Fran _ces Crouch , in Marylebone , and sent enced _oy Mr . Baron Alderson to be hanged , Will expiate flw crime w _^ the scaffold in front of Newgate on _Monday _nextat « W » t ? _'d «* . Bhouid tho Sheriffs _norrecevre any contr . vy _diroctisps previous to that day ttom hw Home-office ; -
Dtjbuh. —The - Chartists Of Dublin Met A...
DTJBUH . —The - Chartists of Dublin met at their i Hall , No . 24 , North Anne-street , on Sunday last . The j meeting was what might be considered a pretty full j one . The far greater number were strangers . It is exceedingly gratifying to observe the good feeling which ; prevails generally amongst those who attend and who i are not members . Chartism is sure to bnrtt in Dublinj ere long , in all its pristine beauty and excellence . To atop its onward march is impossible . The Tery parties who were at first employed to aid in hunting down _« e mug , m all its pristine beauty and excellence . To atop its onward march is impossible . The Tery parties wno were at first employed to aid in hunting down Tm _^ _vS _? 8 _*! _nowits strenuous rapporters , though not _SehcSLtj to »? _iw U 1 _* tte _^ f 00 _** 6 _a _^ d _wjci uuntssij I © _aay iimt _^ y _were _gjjjggjgjy _sony f 0 I _~* _JL _«? _EaBt _^ nct' Chartism would have been _ndTfof _^^^ _lX 1116 _*» t _* _PP"Mon to it , were it 1 _„ _S _^ _lr _^^ _^ _^ ' _* _^^ « _aha 2 fl _? _c _^ _i _^ a _£° _^ / pite of _efery denunciation _^ T _^ _WriL _^ _nS _-J _^ _J 0 _* _r _^ _"P" opponent mS _^^ _S _^ _^^^ _^™** The _wSSSSf _i _?« _^ TV * 80 me _^ _tences the _TZZ-TFvF _!* ; irB 8 , aJ ) PIled to _tatwj it _Neverthe-i _SinnaSS _itetS * _^^ _^ I ywmg _^ _° _^ _SSJSS _^ _SS _?^ f _^ _V _^? _t * nding _auher- j £ _SiSS _££# _2 5 ? JU _% * _% ** _? * _" _* " * _* _^^ _f _^? 8 14 _Re consideration and approval _i 3 _SSSSS £ i _/^ i _^ _??• _**¦** _iSi _^ _iSSESS- _^ _k _M _^ ° n t « _take _aitfger i Si _^^ S £ _?^^^« _? , r _™ _% _to gB , end hire [ Hiis day _^ boldly and manfully challenged oppon-: bob . A _ftmimittee has been appointed to j Bake arrsBgeaea _^ fox _spme Jarge _bsild _& g ftx the
Dtjbuh. —The - Chartists Of Dublin Met A...
\ j _, j j j ; | _) I use of the Association for one night in the week , i Cit z _= ns of known wealth and respectability have come forward and tendered pecuniary aid for the purpose of ! forcing pure political principle ou public attention . The ] working people cannot attend meetings held in the day ] time ; and the press does not like to report nocturnal ! proceedings . These jdifficnlties are still in the way . Chartism has much to encounter , but nothing to fear . } The Stars Bent into the country parts of Ireland are _. ' doing their duty well . They are the only lecturers j that can as yet be Bent out amongst the Irish people . let the Irish people once learn a political creed , and I no powtr on earth will ever divert them from it j Let them but once get the political knowledge , and j they will stand to it , at all hazards . The scaffold and
: ] - j \ j _< j the gallows , the bulks , asd the penal colonies would boob lose their terrors , even if the two infamous factions Whig and Tory united were so weak and so wicked as to try their hands at tbem . It is a sin against High Heaven , a crime tbat can scarcely be forgiven , _: to keep such a noble minded , generous , confiding , _for-I giving people as the Irish , in a state of political igno-1 ranee . Mr . William Woodward was called to the chair j at half-past one o'clock . Mr . H . -Clark acted as i secretary . The minutes of the last day ' s _proceedings were read and confirmed . Mr . Clark spoke at consi-! derable length and with great effect npon tbe ad-] vantages which the working classes wonld derive from i the enactment of the People ' s Charter . He waa londly
cheered . Mr . Keagh Eaid that various circumstances prevented him from attendihg their meetings for a considerable time past , but his Chartist principles did not cool by hia absence—( hear , _btarj . He advocated their cam > e everywhere he went , and would continue to do so . He was very happy to havo it in his power to say that a better feeling was _aVroad than when he last had the pleasure of meeting his brethren in that Hall . Chartism was growing handsome . It would soon grow strong—( _chetrs and laughter ) . Mr . O'Higgins addressed the meeting , at some length , and read a resolution passed at the Town Council of Birmingham , which he _Baid went very far to prove that the Complete Suffragists , and the Anti-Corn Law League bad discovered that tbey were wasting their
energies and their funds to no purpose ; in short , that until they became Chartists , as they should have done long ago , tbat they could not make one step in advance . He ( Mr . O'Higgins ) wonld now say to his British brethren , that now was tbeir time to be conciliatory , mild in all their proceedings , but at the same time firm , resolved , and determined not to yield an inch , one iota cf those principles for which they have snffered such unparalleled persecution . He called upon the Irish labourers to join tbe Association . The appeal was successful . Several gave in their names for admission on the next day of meeting . Mr . Ciark moved that tha meetings be adjourned for one week ; that is , till Sunday , the Snd of June . —Carried unanimously . Thanks having been voted to the Chairman , the meeting separated .
ZtONDON . —DE . M'DOUALL—On Sunday evening last , May the 19 cb , there was a very full muster in the City Chartist Hall , Tumagain-lane , to welcome homB Dr . M'DonalL On his entrance the Doctor was received with loud shouts ef applause . Mr . P . _M'Grath was called to tbe chair snd delivered a Tery able address . On the Doctor rising to address tbe meeting be was again _greeted with the hearty acclamations of tbe numerous assembly . He said he did not know whether his two years exile had made a difference , whether he _should be as able to _adlress them now as formerly ; he was aware the political mind had much improved within the last two years ; they all now knew tbe A B C of politics ; it was therefore necessary to go to nbilosophy . He wished to have a blow equally at
Whigs and Tories ; at fund lords and landlords ; he stood there to advocate tbe rights of labour—( hear , hear ) . A man must thoroughly understand the system , or it was utterly impossible that he could apply tbe remedy—( cheers ) . What was the aristocracy but a . conspiracy to rob the working man of the fruits of bis industry ? What were the manufacturers but a similar body ? Look at the soldiers , the police , are they not banded on the side of your oppressors ? You have your trades anions , but are tbey not weak ? Shew me one healthful green spot in the ranks of labour and I will shew you an oasis in tbe desert— ( hear , hear ) . 1 stand here to strike a blow by reason and argument against all your oppressors . I need not enter into the abstract question of the soil ; that has a _l ready
been done . The reading of the constitution showed it to be the constitution of tbe aristocracy . The _oraior then reviewed the penal code , and said , its bearing was vindictive , hateful , and revengeful , instead of being corrective , healing , and beneficial —( loud cheers ) . He hewed tbe effect of tbe law of conspiracy : its web was equally adapted to catch three persons or three million persons —( hear , hear ) . In the penal code the doubt acquits ; but in political conspiracy tbe doubt secures conviction . The speaker next ably discussed the commercial code ; demanding a revision of taxation , and arguing strongly in favour of an equitable adjustment prior to its relaxation . Having now hastily sketched the penal and commercial code , he would proceed to the executive : the head was the centre , the
seat of sensation , and the executive Bhouid be tbe centre of representation—( loud cheers ) . The present head _^ aa quite suitable to the aristocracy , because it could do them no wrong , —but to you it can and does wrong ; because you cannot reach it Your prayers , your petitions are never heard . Society is based on wro :: K principles , worshipping wealth and royalty—( loud cheers ) . Next we are told ministers are responsible ; to whom 1 to the aristocracy ? by whom could they be impeached ? by the majority of the House of Commons , selected from their own adherents . Thus they protect each other and continue their wrong doing in your name—( great cheering ) . A jury would , in nine cases out of ten , find their verdict in accordance with the summing np of ths judge , and the judge receive his instructions
from his paymasters—the government Thus you will find the whole _executive _infinence , from the Qieen down to Jack Ketch , vested in the aristocracy ; and those two symbols , tbe crown and the gibbet , were tbe most odious and oppressive to mankind . He trusted the plank of tbe scaffold would soon become a coffin for the other—( loud and long-continued cheering ) . Dr . M'Douall then , in a masterly manner , shewed tbe demoralising effects of a standing army , and while ably exposing the horrors of man butchery was greeted with great applause . The unconstitutional police force also came in for a full share of well-merited and just castigation . The speaker said the government conld not trust a militia selected from the people with bayonets in tbeir hands , but preferred trusting to an
unconstitutional police force under the immediate control of the Home Secretary —( cheering ) . Taxation was next held up in all its hideons deformity , and its results , smuggling , adulteration , and deterioration , forcibly illustrated by the articles , tobacco , snuffs , spirits , port wine , tea , coffee , sugar , bread , Ac ; and its poisonous effects shown on the human constitution . Taxation , in fact , reaches everything , no matter how small its proportion or _eigantie its _statwe—4 hear , bear ) . Thus did taxation and its twin brother , profit , swallow np the wages of the working man —( load cheers ) . Fifty-three millions are collected and expended annually . Sure he was that wider a proper system of representation , twenty millions might be left in the hands of the people , to create a home market , and thus by a better
system of distribution raise the wages and improve 11 condition of the people—tbear , hear ) . The speaker the proceeded to show np a few of the social evils _arisir from the present sytem . He reviewed the mur _< Jeroi Game Laws , Ac- _fcc , and said the whole was _backe np by a most pernicious system of education ,- tl aristocracy taking care to cause the young twig to I bent as the old tree inclined . Thus our youths we ; trained up in the principles of base submission ar mental degradation —( loud cheers);—supported as th < were by that great engine of oppression , tbe Estal liahed Church —( hear ) . Having for the last two yea being unaccustomed to public speaking , he _trusts tbey would excuse all imperfections . It was for tl
Chartists , for the great body of the people , now to si how they could abolish the present system in tl easiest , the shortest , and most effective way . ( 6 re ; cheering . ) To effect the change it was necessary I show that Chartism would be a remedy far presei evils . He must confess he was impatient , but must _^ fi a time endure with those who have endured . He ht suffered , and was willing to Buffer again , ( Loud chee ing . ) It was then his dnty to lay before them a planto engage their attention , to enlist their _sympathies—^ _t that in dee time th _« y may become fellow labourers _i raising the truly noble democratic Euperstructtti ( Immense applause , ) The practical step that no londly called for their adoption was electoral registr tion . The late decision in the Court of Commc
Pleas would , if they would only exert _themselves , and attend to the matter—enable them to return at least fifty Chartist members at the next general election , who would farm such an obstructive force that no mea sure could pass , and Ministry after ministry must fallor enact that measure for which be had always contended—the People's Charter . < Great cheering _} . Mr P . M . M'Diuall resumed his seat amid the most enthusiastic cheering . Mr .-T . Clark then came _£ orward , and , in a brief and pithy speech , moved a vote of tk _jnks to Peter Murray M'Douall , for his persevering and patriotic advoeacy of the people ' s cause . Mr . C . Doyle secoaded the motion , which was carried unanimously , and the meeting dispersed , _MEinoPOLITAK DELE 6 A 2 JE COCKCIL . —The tot
\ j j - meeting under the new Organization took place oa j Sunday afternoon last , in the city , Chartist-Hall Tuxn-] again-Iane , and _Skinner-atreet . Mr . Bodcers ' Lam-; beth , was unanimously called to the chair . Mr Stallwood was appointed secretary pro . tern , Mr . T . 31 . , wheeler delivered an encourairinz renort from tha 1 _Doncombe Testimonial Committee . The _cosrsVoT lee ! turers was unanimously reappointed . Mr . Cuff * , » M'Douall and Richards Prize Distribution Fund , when 9 s . were voted to P . M . M'DonalL The parties holding cards are requested to make an i to
immediate return Mr . Cuffay , 409 , Strand . The : Council adjourned until Sunday afternoon next / at three ' o ' clock . ClTT Chartist Hail—A meeting of shareholders was held on Sunday morning , May 19 ; h . Mr . Staliwood _^ _<^ ed to the -chair ; the Secretary's report and I balance sheet , was brought forward and adopted , as ' _/»» ™» rules for thelSdance of the hall . It was ana _^ ° _^ _yagreedto fo 4 a school , and thecommittee _, deputed to make the necessary arrangements . A vote of thanks was then unanimously awarded to J . T . Leader , Esq . 1 LP . for his donation of £ 25 for theuse of tbe directory , and the meeting separate ! I
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), May 25, 1844, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/nss_25051844/page/6/
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