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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1846.
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^^^M^^^^BV^PV^^^^^^^^^^^^P^^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^HHa^V gy™ ¦ ' "*' **" • i™^»^^i ¦ ... — *^ LIBERAL BOOKS os POLITICS, THEOLOGY, ASD SOCIAL PROGRESS,
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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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Pnblished , and Seld , Wholesale and Retail , HSf ^ BY JATCrWWXfSOlC ^"" " ¦ "' t Q-recn ' B Head Passage , Paternoster Row , London . THE REASONER . ( Edited bjG . J . Holjoafce . ) a Weekly PufcHratiou . pries three lialf-pence , devoted to . the invvttigation of Rtligious Suguias . T « te had alto hi Ifomhlj- PbiIs . MatlKJnatics no Mystery . Sow publishing ia "Weeldv Kumb . Tf at Threepence each . Practical Grammar , bj < J . J . Iloljoake , Is . 63 . Handbuok to Ditto , by Ditto , lo . i . Or in Five Numbers at Twopence each . Ju « t PnKiOied , in Two Volumes , neat cloth boards and and 1 < -Uertd , price Sfx Shillings and Sixpence , the F « urfli B iition of AS ENQUIRY concerning POLITICAL JUSTICE , ana its Ii flueiice on Morals and Happiness . By William Go-lwiu . To be had in 11 Parts at Sixpence eact , or in 33 2793 at Twopence . Mirabaud ' * Sjsteia of Xature , 3 vo ' s , cloth boards and lettered .. . — " 6 To be had in P-ms at Id . and in Numbers at 2 d . Discussion on the Existence of God and tie Authenticity of the Bible , between OrigeR Bacheler anHE-. b ^ rt Dale Owen . lvol-d . bds . and let . . 4 6 Discos-ion on tne AuOientScity of the Bible , between O . Uacheler and R . B . Owen , 1 TOlume , Joth h' -aHs , and lettered ... » jj 2 Ditto in agWiapper . — — 2 " Iilsc : iss-ou *> n the Existence of God , between O . Bjohderand R- J ) . Owea , 1 vol . cloth beards and letsered ... — ••• * *' Pi to w a Wrapper ... ... ... 1 * J"o b « lud also in E glit Parts fat Sixpence each , or in TwerHy-ftinr Xumh . ; rs , at Twopence each . Yoiiej ' s Bains of Empires and Law of Nature , 1 vol . cloth boards and let . with 3 Engravings S 0 T « be had in Parts at Sixpence , and in Nos . at 2 d . Yolney ' s Li-ctures on History , cloth boards ... 1 6 Ditso 5 n a Wrappsr ... ... ... 1 0 Volney ' s Law of Nature ... ... 0 4 Sketch of the Life of Volney ... ... 0 2 Mi-s Wr -hi's Popular Lectures , 1 volume , cloth boards siud iett « . Te < l -... ... ... 3 0 To he had in Tarts at Go . each , or in Xos . at 2 \ Miss Wright ' s Fables ... ... ... 0 3 Biography , Notes , &c . of Frances Wright Darusmont ,. « ... ... ... 0 4 Political Letters , bj ditto — — — 0 6 Essays on the Formation and Publication of Opinions , 3 TOl . clotn boards and lettered ... S 0 PAINE'S WORKS . Paine ' s Theological Works , 1 vol . d . bds . & let . 3 0 To be ba ctwten a Scholar aud a Peasant . Bj j Sir W . Jones ... ... — — ° 1 j r . -irood , Manchester . Love . Glasgow . ShepherdiiMr . uool . Bftinson , Edinburgb . andallbooluellers . [ i
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to tailors . LONDON and PARIS FASHIONS . FOIl AUTUMN , ~ AXD WINTER , 1846-47 . By READ and Co ., , 12 , HaH- > trect ; Bloomgburjr -. square , London ; And G . Bcrg-r , tlol ywell-street , Strand ; M : iy be had of all bookscllrrs , wheresoever residing . 1 . sow HE 4 DV , B y approbation of her Majesty Queen Victoria , and his Royal Highness PriHce Albert , a splendid print richly coloured and exquisitely executed Vidw of Hyd Park Gasdens , as seen from Hyde Park , London . With this beautiful Print will be sent Dress , Frock , and Ri . ling Coat Patterns , the n west style Chesterfield , and the New Fashionable Double-breasted Waistcoat , with Skirts . The method of reducing and increasing them « br all fiies , explained in the most simple manner , with i jur extra PlatcB , and can be easily performed by any person . Manner of waking up , and a full description of the Uniform * , as now to be worn in the Royal Navy , and other information . —Price 10 s ., or ptst-frec 11 s . Bead and Ce's new indubitable System of Cutting , in three parts—first part , Coats , price 10 s . ; second ; Habits Di esses , &c . , 10 s . ; third , Box nnd Driving Coats , W .-iistcoats , ! reeches , and Trousers , 10 s . ; or the whole , 25 s ., including the system of cutting Chesterfield and other fancy coats , understood at sight . Any person having one part , may have the two others for 15 s . A Method of Cutting Gaiter Trousers , with 12 plates , including 5 full size bottom parts , price , post free , 2 s . 6 d . Patent measures , Eight Shillings , the set ; the greatest improvement ever introduced to tbe Trade . Patterns to measure , ot" every description , post free to any part of England , Ireland , Scotlaud , and Wales , at Is . each . The amount may be sent by cash , post-office order , or post stamps . Busts for fitting Coatson . Boys' figures . Foremen provided . Instructions in cutting as usual . N . B—The Patent Measures or System of Cutting , i « ( like tbe Fashion *) te sent post free , by Is . extra nt .
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LITHOGRAPHIC ENGRAVINGS OK TnE DUNCOMBE TESTIMONIAL . MAY still be had at the Office of Messrs . ll'Gowan and Co ., 1 G , Great WindmiU Street , Haymarket , London ; through any respectable bookseller in town or country ; or at any of the agents of the Korthern Star . The engraving is on a large scale , is executed in the most finielied style , is finely printed on tinted paper , and gives a minute description of the Testimonial , and has the Inscription , &c , < fcc , engraved upon it . PRICE POUitPfiJJCE .
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A GOOD FIT WARRANTED . UOSDELL AND CO ., Taitors , are now making op u complete Suit of Superfine Black , any size , for £ 3 ; Superfine West of England Black , £ 3 10 s . ; and the < ery best Superfine Saxony , £ 5 , warranted not to spot or cka n ^ -e colour . Juvenile Superfine Cloth Suits , 24 s . Liveries equally cheap—stttlie Great Western Emporium , Nos . 1 and 2 , Oxford-street , London ; the noted , house fur good black cloths , and patent made trousers . Gentlemen sin choose the colour and quality of cloth from the largest stock in London . The r ,. : of cutting taught .
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IMPORTANT TO PHOTOGRAPHISTS . AN application was made ou the 22 nd September , to the Vice-chancellor of England , by Mr . Beard ( who , acting under a mostextraordiny delusion , considers himself the soleuatciitec of tlia Photographic process !) to restrain MK . ESERTON , of i , Tcmple-street , ana US , Fleet-street , roin tiking Photographic Portraits , which he does by a process entirely different from and very superior to Mr . Beard's , and at one-half the charge . His Honour refused the application in toto . No license required to practice this process , which is taught by Mr . Egerton iu a few lessons at a moderate charge . All the Apparatus , Chemicals , * c , to be had as usual at his Depot , 1 , Temple-street , Whitcfriars .
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Now ready , Price One Shilling . TIIK SECON'B EDITION OF MY LIFE , OR OUR SOCIAL STATE , Pari I . a Poem , by ERNEST JONES , Barrister at Law . Full of wild dreams , strange fancies and graceful images , interspersed with many bright and beautiful thoughts , its chief defect is its brevity . The author ' s inspirations seem to gush fresh and sparkling from Hippo , wene . lie will mint neither readers nor admirers . —Morn , nff Post . It contains more pregnant thoughts , more bursts of lyric power , more , in fine , of the truly grand and beautiful , than any puetieal work , which has made its appearance for years . We know of few things more dramatically intense than tlie scenes betweer Philipp , Warren and Clare . —Xew Quarterly Jlevkio .
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MALCOLM M'GREGOR . We fear our tourist has become embroiled in Irish excitement , as , up to Thursday morning's post , we had not received his weekly contribution .
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THE JUDGMENT . Authority that has long presumed in that protection which the ignorance of a people ever confers upon tyranny , and pride that lias so long fenced itself with ostentations charity , are now beginning to lower their proud crests before that judgment which they have blasphemously hoped to charge upon the Creator . They are beginning to discover that if the cottage alone is subjected to the wild ravages of hunger that the mansion is not secure from the assaults of the hungry . It would be presumptuous in
us to venture even a guess at the mysteries by which an all-wise and beneficent being works out his own ends , but yet , as far as famine has gone , and as far as results may be gathered , we must come to the conclusion , that the poor and dependent only were not selected as the only sufferers ; and , judging of the great provocation necessary to induce civilized men to commit murder , or even acts of cruelty , we must presume that the suffering of a patient and enduring people is intended as an instrument to lead to their improvement .
We are now assuming the divine interpretation of the Church of England , in presuming that the present famine is in truth a heavenly dispensation ; and we are shewing that , if the sufferings of the poor is a portion of that heavenly decree , that the rich have no right to murmur if , as regards their order , it is manifested in another shape and form . True , the government thought , its officials would hope to meet the calamity by common custom and the ordinary law ; tiue , the Irish landlords are now
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ready to confess their long errors and transgressions , and to admit that property has-its duties as well as its rights ; true , the press is compelled to fight on the side of the ravaging monster , and to proclaim the inadequacy of the several measures proposed to arrest its progress ; true , the pulpit teems with its admonitions of charity and the natural duties of the Christian ; true , Mr . O' onnell gives instructions to his constituents and bears them as their opinions and resolutions to the Irish executive , bu # it is also true , that , amid this combination of elements , starvation and pestilence are on the increase *
'• To what end then , we may ask , are governments instituted , and for what purpose is society constructed , if , upon a sudden emergency , both become paralysed and declare their inability to act . Upon the other band , has it ever struck those who would impiously charge the Almighty with the present scarcity , tha it is still more impious to endeavour to avert that punishment which in their danger they are compelled { to admit , they have merited . Political apostacv , ministerial delinquency and treachery , are
things " of such every day occurrence , that they merely create a sudden start and vanish with the expression of sudden dissatisfaction ; but not so with famine , it is not merely a nine days' wonder , its novelty does not die away from its longcoutinuance . hut , on the contrary , it gains strength in its daily progress . If it could be shown ti > at the land of Ireland was insufficient to support its own population , then we might sympathise with those who are now charged and chargeable with neglect . Or if we saw a prospect of that immediate relief ( which is now the one thing required ) , in the
cultivation of the waste lands of Ireland , we may be inclined to g ive our adhesion to the project , but when we know that the horse starves while the g-ass is growing , however favourably we may incline to the slow process of improvement as a means of future comfort , we cannnot so far stultify ourselves as to rely upon it as a means of meeting the present necessity . The one is a question for deep thought and consideration , and to be subjected to such management and control ; as will secure the profits of improvement , to him who improves , while the other requires the instantaneous attention of those who have un dertaken to administer the affairs of
the country . It is but poor comfort to the unwilling idler to he feasted with the glad tidings that corn , bread and meat have declined in price , if he cannot sell his labour at that price which will enable him to purchase a sufficiency of those commodities . Go . vemments have frequently interfered indirectly , and but for the hold resistance of Duncombe would have interfered directly , with the rate of wages , when those for whose benefit the boon was intended did not ask for government interference , and why then should the harsh rules of political economy be now enlisted to justify the Government in abstaining from necessary interference ,
Our columns of this week again teem with the sad and forlorn condition of the Irish people , while , as the Times truly tells us , there is not a single man in the country appears equal to the present emergency . The head of the government truly telis the landlords , through Ireland ' s only Duke , that the condition of the Irish people is matter for their sole consideration ; while the domestic tyrants pule like infants , and attempt to cast the whole responsibility upon government . One thing , however , is certain ,
that when the Irish landlords and their government are engaged in solving the question of responsibility the Irish people , without protection or hope , are thrown upon that wild vengeance which ever follows despair , as a means of redressing . ' their grievances . Meantime , it is heart-sickening to find each successive announcement of local d istress followed by the information , that a large reinforcement of troops are on their way to administer that relief—that only relief , which the Irish , for centuries , have been in the habit of receiving from their rulers .
It is sad , also , to see the manner in which the Liberator now panders to the cupidity of domestic jobbers . The government proposes a loan for the improvement of the landlords' estates , with a proper provision that the funds shall he administered by a responsible agent , appointed by the lender ; but , no , say the landlords ; and , no , says the Liberator ; this is a vexatious interference with the rights of the pro . prietor , who , in justice , should have the appointment of his own superintendent . This is one of the vital points upon which the Liberator , as the agent
of the landed proprietors , waited upon the Saxon Viceroy ; and , from a thorough knowledge of the Irish landlords and their superintendents , we warn the government in time , that , if they adopt this suggestion , they may as well at once do the generous , and make a free gift of the cash , as they never will see a single stiver of it if committed to the guardianship of the squire ' s superintendent , who will , in nine cases out of ten be one of his largest creditors , and from whom the squire will never dare to demand an account of the expenditure .
It is not long since we pointed out that course whichi in the end government will be compelled to adopt , when midnig ht assassination shall have more force than timely remonstrance . Government must buy food for the people , and must compel the landlords , and farmers ( for they are worse than the landlords ) , to eive such wages as will enable the
labourer to purchase a sufficiency ; and if government does not do this in time , all the armed force at its disposal will not be sufficient to protect i s authority , or tlie property of the Irish landlords . Sophistry and blarney may serve the political ends of faction , but they will be found incapable of arresting the march of hunger , and the . wild vengeance of a starving people .
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society about to disappear , under ; theXhaneful ; and crushing influence of this ; monster . evilr "< "r ' : " - ^ ' -: » We wish we could participate in the expectations of the Morning Chronicle , that a measure for the reclamation of the six million acres of Waste Lands in Ireland is . certain to be introduced next session , and that upon terms which will give the needful assistance from the State to ensure their cultivation and ultimately leave those by whose labours they have been reclaimed in free proprietary possession of that wealth which they may be said to have created . So far as the admirable articles in which this great and valuable measure has been advocated are concerned , we are inclined to believe that a considerable impetus has been given to it . But we do not see that the Government , either here or in Ire-= ^^
land , show any signs of readiness to act upon its enlightened suggestions . We should really very much like to hear Lord Besborongh , or Lord John Russell , address to the Irish landlords the following admirable speech respecting these waste lands , which we find in the columns of our contemporary : — " Gentlemen , you have had five centuries to try what use you could make of these lauds . In that time you have not contrived to make them yield any produce or profit even to your distinguished selves . If in any one year—if six months ago—you bad done one evert act , bad moved one sod towards rendering these lands useful , either to yourselves ur ethers , whatever you had even touched with that object in
view , you should have had our free leave to keep as your own . But you have not done it ! and the time is now come when a public nece <>« HY rfvjnimstbat what you have omitted to do si Ottld be done for the general good by the representative uml urgitu of the "uncral good—the State . We are going to take the bind from you ; to enter it , and do as we please with it , for the purpose of rendering it productive , whether with your leave or without . Now , therefore , your modest proposition is , that after we have drained , fenced , built upon , and manured this land , and made it worth as many hundreds of pounds as it is now worth shilling , we shall , reserving only a mortgage to the amount of our expenses , give it bach
to you . And this you demand in the name of property . But , by your leave , your right of property stands good only tor . the shillings . Those , nobody thinks of refusing you ; but the pounds winch will be added to those shillings by nur capital , and bv the labour of Irish peasants , are either theirs or ours , not yours ; and to make them yours would not be restoring ' your own property , but'presenting you with a large and gratuitous estate in addition . No * , this is . 1 thing which you most absolutely reconcile yourselves to doing without . It will no ' t , cannot , shall not , be done . We are not so charmed with the use you have made of what is already youra , as to be desirous of adding more to it ; and besides , there are really other people who must be thought of before you . Your necessities , we own , are great , but
those of seven millions of poverty-stricken pea . antry are greater . We mast take care of tlioai- first . We inustgive them justice before we give you charity . Con ? nle yourselves with the n flection , that by doing for these people what you hare faiM to do , we shall at the same time relieve your estates from what you perpetually compJiiin of as their greatest burthen ; a burthen which must indeed be insupportable , for otherwise , men-with-the . charitable feelings you lay claim to would not surely be driven to ridding themselves of it by turning oiit a whole tenantry on the high roads , to perish of hunger , or find in beggars like themselves tlie mercy they had not experienced from the rich man wji . had lived on their labour . What you can only effect for yourgelves by means like these , we are going to do . for you , freely and effectually . Let that suffice you . "
That is a speech " according to our own heart . Its appearance in such a quarter ought to be a warning to the Irish landlords to set their house in order ; for , though it has not yet been spoken by any member of the Government , yet its appearance in an . old and faithful Whig organ indicates that some such sentiments prevail in official Whig circles . But it is not only in the Chronicle or the Times now promoted to the dignity of leading ministerial journal , that we nnd indications of a growing conviction of the public mind , which must force the carrying of such a measure . The Herald , Standard Spectator , and other metropolitan journals join in the cry . It is echoed from Ireland , and by that journal which , at the present moment , perhaps , most faithfullv represents the public voice of that
country—the Nation . That journal thus emphatically warns tlie " landed interest" of Ireland : — "See the blindness of Irish landlords—see how they are suffering the ground to slip from under their feet—how the problem to be solved comes more formidably buf » re them every time it re-appe .-. rs . Eleven years ago , if they , hud unanimously urged on Government to adopt the plan of cue select committee , they might have had the lands reclaimed , and inhabited by their own tenants . Now , _ all men seem disposed to der . y them all cluiin to this ; and the world cries out— ' At least on this now land let us tee no more cottiers or con-acre—outhis virgin soil let a rate grow up who may call their hearths and their suul their own . '
" And even now , if tlie Irish proprietors would cordially accept the terras , they might savo their territorial privileges over the present arable and pastures , with all their woods and waters , timber and minerals , and all the rest of it . But let a year or two more go roi . nd—let public works , commissioners and engineering tourists , and the gentlemanlike ofliciulitics of Dublin Castle , devour tiie iu art of [ reiand but a little longer—nnd when ihe Svbilline lio ; iks are offered once more to these landed Tarquins , they wiJJ , from the buttian of their hearts , wish they hail bethought them souner of the requirements of the time . Prophetic words ! Each time the question recurs it will be with added demands . Already the
Chronicle , no longer confining its attention to the waste land , has propounded an additional measure for dealing with the soil already cultivated , and paying rent to the landlords . We will not do the injustice of condensing its proposals , but give them in its own words : — T . ' ie advances from the public , contemplated by the Lord Lieutenant , are a gratuitous booh to the landlords . To this buon no one supposes ti ; at the landlords , as such , hare auy claim . They give no equivalent for it . TU « y have iu no way either earned or deserved it . The government , aecordinjjiv , doos not give it to them for their own sake . It intends them as the mere channels through which , a benefit is to reach a portion of the community far othov than themselves . Well then , to this ttamcrited and unintended gift , let the government annex a . condition . Let it make a rule that no landlord shall
receive its aid in improving his land , except on condition of giving to the tenants of the land so improved « a permanent proprietary interest in the soil . The condition would not be onerous . The land would be given back to tlie landlord greatly increased in value . Let him rest content with that increase , and bind himself for ever that there at least his demands shaU stop . " Let , him grant to every tuuaut a ucritetual lease , on a fair valuation of the land after U . e
government has drained it . " We should greatly prefer an arrangement much more liberal than this . We would require him to divide with the tenant the boon conferred on himself , and to grant a perpetual tenure at a rent much below the full value of the hnyrovud land . But we should hail , with joy even the move niggardly arrangement ; and so , we venture to say , would the tenantry . The immediate gain to the landlord would be a manifold equivalent for renouncing any further prospective increase .
We propose this plan as the supplement and completion of that which wo have already luh-oe-ited with respect to the waste lands . We propose it us a means ,. the readiest means , by which the " iidnimiblo social and economical effects Oi a property in the soil may be extended directs to a wider circle of the population than'those who may become setuers on the waste . " We propose it also as susceptible of immediate application . The Lord-Lieutenant has only t > will it . lie is not pledged to improve the lands pf eve *;} body who asks for it : he has reserved to himself a full discretion .. Ho has only to name his conditions . What they should be is to us very clenr . ' Such is the present stage of this momentous agitation . The Star was the first newspaper which recognised the paramount importance of " the Laud
question . " At tlie risk of much -misapprehension , and with the endurance of- some abuse , it has steadily persisted in showing its manifold advantages and the justice of its principles . It is . most graiifV ' ing to find that these views are so warmly take . ! up and advocated by contemporaries on both siiit ' s of the channel . We suspect that many of tham do not vet see how success in Ireland will react on Great Britain , and its bearing on the occupation of the soil here . Hut it will be time enoug h to look at that part of the subject , when we have made our Irish brethren " at home" in their own land .
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the promise of high wages , cheap . bread , , and plenty to do , while the foreigners from whom Cohden is now receiving all honour and laudation , are experiencing that benefit which' was . promised to the English people ; the measure which destroyed ^ confidence and unsettled all our relations at home having given a spur to all foreign operations . It is no wonder that the foreign merchant ,: manufacturer , and farmer should feast f . nd applaud Cobden ,
inasmuch as he has secured increased traffic for all by the opening of the rich market for the produce of the farmer through the merchant , and has limited the speculation of English manufacturers , thereby , advancing , the profits' of their continental competitors . Hence we distinctly prove that the same circumstances which may make England rather hot just now , naturally insure for Mr . Cobden a hearty welcome abroad .
Our friend the Quaker would no doubt gladly exchange situations with his chief ; and , indeed , we learn that the solid reward of Cobden , as compared with his p romised promotion , rather frets friend Bright , who appears to have been " In battle skin . " ( . There is something very amusing in our liberal friends of Manchester
" Giving what is not theirs to give . " as we should not be at all surprised to find the government too ] , Milner Gibson , and the Free Trade bellows blower , John Bright , defeated by a thumping Tory and a red hot Chartist ; a most characteristic finish in the Free Trade Camp . It must always he borne in mind that our principal objection to Free Trade from the commencement , has been the hardships and privations which , through casualties , uncertainty ,
and doubt , it would subject those least able to stem the torrent during the first three years of settlement and adjustment . It was upon these grounds that we invariably contended for the " timely and prudent Concessions , " as preliminaries to the measure , well knowing that the Free Trade party , flushed with victory / and with a government moulded to their purpose would throw all the onus of experiment upon those least able to hear it .
, We predicted the unsettled state of the prices of al commodities , and the consequent fluctuations in the rate of wages—averring that those who had the making and controul of the laws , capital , and machinery , would throw the burden from their own shoulders upon those of the poor . The farmers are just now cock-a-hoop at the first turn of the experi . ment ; but let us remind them that culture abroad is not like culture in England—that seasons abroad are not lite seasons-in England—and that while they
would require at least two years to put their house in order , the foreigners can complete theirs in one . Again , let them bear in mind that theirs is the rich and inviting market , where the produce of the world will meet in competition , and that the amount brought to it , and not the price given abroad , will regulate its value . An English farmer could not , since the passing of Free Trade , make very extensive arrangements for an increased breadth of wheat . He requires nearly a year to prepare it , and a full vear from seed time to market to realise it ; but not
so with his universal competitors , who , in many instances , in eight months from seed time can send their produce to our markets . Let us lay their present condition fairly before them , by showing what constitutes a substitute , and how the price of all other " breadstuff ' s , " as well as wheat itself , tends to regulate the price of wheat . Indian corn , rye , barley , oats , and rice , are articles of bread-stuff , with which foreign countries may be
made to abound ; in fact , the amount of land callc d into fresh cultivation by the prospect of remunerating for prices here would produce more than a sufficiency the whole population of the empire ; thus rendering the domestic bread-stuff a mere drug . This the farmers will feel before this day twelvemonth , notwithstanding the fascinating as-urance of the Times that all the world could not give us much—that is , as much as would visibly affect the price of corn at home .
American junk and salt pork is not fresh beef or mutton , and yet a considerable importation of . those articles would considerably affect the price of English beef and mutton , because they are substitutes ; so with coarse cloths , linens , and woollens—their price would affect the price of all finer fabrics , because the purchasers of those articles would lessen the competition for finer articles , and they would become substitutes . In fact , the same holds good as regards all the articles of life ; a large haul of fish will sometimes cause butcher ' s meat to stink in the stalls ; and a good sample of breakfast powder will reduce the profit of the village grocer . We
heard of the great scarcity of food that now prevails all over the world , and yet will it be believed , that from Thursday to Saturday in last week , we saw 110 vessels , laden with bread-stuffs , enter the port of Antwerp alone ; a proof of one of the Free Trade doctrines , that where there ' s a demand , there will be a supply . Further , notwithstanding the geiieral character of sluggishness stamped upon English farmers , we learn from many sources , that they merely look upon present high prices as an immediate godsend , but which must be followed by destructive cheapness , and in consequence of which many are discharging some of their hands , while others are reducing the rate of wages .
The conduct of the Irish farmer is precisely similar ; he is a much greater tyrant than his landlord ; and whilst his voice swells the national wail just now , he looks upon famine as a godsend , which justifies him in dismissing labourers to whom he affects not to be able to give remunerating wages , while he speculates on a rise in the price of their food . Thus we unequivocally prove , that the poor and helpless have been the greatest sufferers from Free Trade , while the comparatively powerful are daily reaping temporary benefit from the change : JUST AS WE PREDICTED T
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FREE TRADE . He who fights and runs away "Will live to fight mother day ; Bat he who is in battle slain , Wili never live to fight again . Bt St . Paul , but the disposition of the Generals of the Free Trade army and their allies is rathei remarkable . Cobden , the acknowledged chief of the allied forces , lias shown as much tact and generalship in his timely retreat as he evinced during the battle He may live to fi-fht another day .
Peel , the Lieutenant of the Free Trade General , apppears to he wounded , but not mortally , while his successor , Lord John , is so hemmed within the narrow entrenchments of the conquering army , that news of him appears a startling novelty , while the aid-de-camp Quaker Bright is rewarded with a PROMISE of translation from the See of Durham to the Borough of Manchester . Cobden's pretensions as a leader we never disdisputed after we had met him , aualysed him , and heard him . His appearance strikes you , if not with awe , at least with respect ; his countenance is so
brimful of philanthropy , humanity and kindness . Indeed , so much so , that our only regret was , that so much natural goodness should have been enlisted by necessity in so bad a cause . Cobden ' s thorough ignorance of the science of political economy constituted his great charm with his hearers ; he was telling and captivating , if not able and convincing . Aware of the tender ground on which he stood , he never pressed heavily , he merel y dealt with all the frippery portions of the subject , which promised advantages to the poor and bespoke the kindliness of his own nature . Therefore we envv not the General
the harvest , that he has reaped as the fruits of his labour , while we may marvel at his sudden evaporation after so notable a triumph . There are many who are not able to distinguish hetween the injury of Free Trade to England and the value of the principle to the Continent , and we shall therefore consider the relative value of the measure at home and abroad , and thereby he enabled to illustrate Cobden ' s present position . Those who bave witnessed the rise in the price of food , the reduction of wages , and the limitation of work to short time , would he but an awkward audience after
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molutioncanconferbenefit upon the working classes Mm th | national min < J J ^ reviou 8 ly trained , fixed upon , and rivettedto , a new system wbichis to supply the rejected , and a social system which is to take the place of that destroyed , ?! .- ' ¦ ' ... The benefit of a ! J physical and moral revolutions has invariably been lost for want of this substitute , and Chartism , but for the social principle easy of accom plishment which has been appended to it , would have now but slumbered in the hearts of the hopeful and energetic , but it would have failed to possess an universal charm for universal labour : Again . Chartism
alone can boast of unbroken and undiminished confi dence in its parliamentary leader and ' chief . Peel , the leader of Toryism , is denounced by hisfrartyas a traitor ; Russell , the leader of Free Trade , is characterised as a halting imbecile ; O'Connell , the Liberator of Ireland , and the leader of a blind-fold nation , has deserted in the very hour of the enemies weakness ; Cobden has run away ; Bright sticks silently by his mules ; the religious freedom gentlemen are obliged to pray in the closet , while Duncombe is [ shrouded in national confidence , and recruiting his strength for another national struggle .
The social principle of Chartism , so long mocked and decried by faction , is now the every day theme of its press , its clubs , its coteries , and its members . Landlords in despair threaten to sell their estates , while Chartists in joy purchase them . We doubt that the working classes have thought seriouslr of the completion of one locality , and the further purchase of £ 8 , 100 worth of land to complete another ,
with the prospect of a still larger purchase ere long . Has not Chartism then been politically and socially in advance of all other isms ? Has it not justified the principle of physical force , while it has systematically and successfully denounced , reprobated , and stayed revolution , outbreak and cruelty ; and has it not as successfully contended for a { social change , the necessity of which every class of society now tardily and reluctantly admits .
Had Whiggery realized its principle of extended suffrage , Chartism would never have been heard of , that is , had it realised the principle that "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION . IS TYRANNY AND SHOULD BE RESISTED . " Had free traders tacked some social principle to their commercial move , the principles of free trade would have been universally adopted . Had the brawlers for religions freedom also contended for the political rights that the majority sought , they would have been hailed as welcome auxiliaries , and had Daniel O'Connell applied the people ' s fuii'Js to
the re-purchase of the pf ople ' s laud lor the people , lie would now be the greatest monarch that ever the world Baw , and might rely with perfect security upon his own definition of physical foroe as a means of resisting aggression , as all the armed force at the disposal of European monavchs dare not ir .-vade a people entrenched in their own cottages , bivouacked upon their own inheritance , ; and ready as one man to fly to the cry of " My cottage is in danger . " Every newspaper and every agitator now writes about and speaks about , the value of the Land and its capabilities ; while the Chartists having for years discussed the theory , are now encased in practical operations , and although we
rejoice to tind our writings circulated as words of knowledge , yet it is unfair th . it the Nation , the Chronicle , iind otherjournals , should copy our opinions nearly verbatim , offering them as their own , or recommending them as those of plagiarist ; to the Irish landlords , without the grace of recognising them as ours . Whole passages , scarcely varied in terms , have been taken from our letters to the Irish landlords , from out work on Small Farms , from our letters to tin-Chartists , and leading articles , and yet none have had the decency to acknowledge the source from whence they were received . However , we pardon this act of dis-courtsey , consoling ourselves with Hie satisfaction that our repudiated madness now constitutes the sanity of our former revilers .
Tfie curse of the present a ^ e h that population presses hardly upon the means of subsistence permitted by landlords , while we assert , without fear of contradiction , that there is not a single newspaper editor in the empire , who undersatnds anything more of agriculture than a sow understands of Algebra . Here then is a misfortune , a greatmisfortune , nnd a natural misfortune , —the misfortune that a completely new system is indispensable to national prosperity , while not a single teacher of the national mind understands a particle of the subject . The old chuck pin game of writing for political pnrties and sectional convenience , will no longer serve the purposes of the age . If , as Peel said , truly said .
the SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE IS BUT IN ITS INFANCY , the tutors of the national mind must henccf » rthbe selected for their knowledge of that science . We have asked for a Minister of Agriculture . We bave said that tlie clay would come when a knowledge of the value of a dunghill would be of more importance than a knowledge of the value of cinnamon , nutmegs and allspice ; and we predict th . it , even in the next session of Parliament , the petition of some forty thousand members of the Chartist Co-operative Land Company will convince the collective wisdom of elodpole landlords ,
that if they are incapable of discharging the duties consequent upon the possession of property , that society will demand the restoration of th trust to abler hands . Thus we show , that while all other parties have become weak from tricking , truckliu < r , juggling and imbecility , that Chartism has become strong in theory beeause wise in practice . May Chartism then live until it affords shelter to nil and violence to none , and may the National Petition , escorted- by half a million to the House of Commons , reflect new and increased lustre upon the
leader , the champion , and the chief , who had the moral courage to increase it ' s muster roll by the addition of his honoured name , when the po * er of some and the treachery of others had nearly consigned it to that tomb in which it has buried old opinions . Yes , it should never be forgotten that Thomas Slingsby Duncombe joined Chartism in the hour ol its greatest weakness , while Daniel O'Conne ! l deserted Repeal in the hour of its greatest strength . Hurrah , then , for Duncombe and tho Charter ! -. The National Petition and the Laud !!
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THE LAND .
In the midst of that cbaos of opinion and experiment which now presents itself on all hands , wedo not think that the present position of Chartism has even yet presented itself in its fair proportions to the disciples of the principle . We see a Ministry tottering from incapacity , fearful of meeting Parliament lest- 'a responsibility to which it is not equal , may he imposedupon it—a Ministry , a Whig Minis .
try , a base , bloody , and brutal Ministry—whose love of office has ever . outweighed all consideration of constitutional , political , and social duties . A Ministry that , properly recognizes the duties consequent upon the possession of property , but fails to recognise those that appertain to government ; thus foolishly establishing the fact in the national mind , that Governments and Parliaments as at present constituted are a national nuisance . tUllOUVUbtU U 1 VU UUIiVIIUI « IUII . f » ltl « Vt
Upon the other hand we find Ireland , ripe for the attainment of its rights , again made an easy prey to faction by the treachery of her leader . How often have we abstained from taking vengeance for injustice , lest our individual heat and feeling should be set down to another attempt to destroy that union indispensable to tho achievement of Irish liberty . Shakespeare has told us that no blow is so fatal to a party as the desertion of its lcaders , and was it not pity cruel , and barbarous , after a struggle of half a
century , to sow the seeds which were sure to be reaped in desolation , even if the pretext was more than feasible . Do the Chartists of England now see their real position , and while the bugaboo physical force waives like a harlequin ' s wand over the fragments of a once powerful , because national party , will they , while they see the debris , rejoice in having escaped the charmer ' s wand . Will they now see that which we have oiten told them , while wo have justified physical force—namely , that neither moral or physical
The Northern Star. Saturday, November 7, 1846.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , NOVEMBER 7 , 1846 .
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IRELAND FOR THE IRISH . It is impossible to recur to this subject too frequently at the present moment . The deductions of the philosophic investigator into the causes of national evils are seldom listened to when statesmen are at . their ease and things go smoothly . ' It is hy the
hurricane , not the calm , that great changes arc effected . When turbulence and discontent , the natural results of a bad system and long-continued misgovernnicntjfrighten rulers from their apathy and appal politicians with the fear of a still more dangf rous picture , then is the time to urge the practical adoption of those RadL-al remedies from which in fairer weather thev would shrink with
abhorrence . The institution of ^ property is , as we have before observed , one of the most sacred in this country . Before " the ri g hts of property" as before the car of Juggernaut , all other things we prostrate . The Jews in the wilderness were not . more blindly enthusiastic in their worship of their golden calf than we are , and , like all other idolaters , we have lost tlie faculty of reasoning about our idol . In no other way can the fact be accounted for , that the origin of property , Ihe great conditions on which it is held , ( he primary and paramount right of the state over all minor claims , and the inalienable right of thfl
whole penj . lc to the land in which they live have , been so utterly disregarded and forgotten . Upon no other hypothesis can the fact , that a few men have been suffered to usurp the soil of Iceland , and hy the ignorant selfishness of their conduct doom that laud to sterility , and its entire people to permanent destitution . This is an abuse so monstrous , so apparent , that it has struck all intelligent foreign writers on the subject ; but , enslaved and blinded hy our reverence for property , ws have suffered it to exist , until at length the cup of iniquity is full . The btate itself is threatened with anarchy , and all the elements of a well-ordered
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• November . 7 , 1846 . 4 THE NORTHERN STAR : —^ ——— =
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Nov. 7, 1846, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1391/page/4/
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