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THE NORTHERN STAR. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5. 1840.
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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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rr . vM cur . lond . - . n c : r i = ? o > "Di ; NT . London , Wednesday Evening , Seven o ' clock-Loxdo . n JorsxEVHEs ' s Tradvs' Hall . —La ? t evening , Mr . W . Farren , Jan ., the honorary secretary of the Trades' Hall Coministee , jrave a" lecture on this subjic ; av the Mechanics' Institution Tavern , before the Marylebone National Charter Association . After apologising to Mr . Savage , the landlord , for tea attack he was abont to make on the publicans' profession , Mr . Farren stated that he came forward on th » present occasion in obedience to the invitation of & Ejecting of Chartists , and he , as well aa the Council to which he was secretary , were always highly delighted to meet any little baud in asy hole or corner of tbe metropolis
who were desirous of being enlightened ou the subject of the erection of & Trades' Hall for the working men of London ; but he was unused to address an assembly of men with pipes in their mouths and pewter pots before them , and therefore , if he should be troubled with a cough occasionally , they must attribute it not to his weakness of body , but to their own weakness of mind . In the promulgation of tliis scheme of the erection of a Journeymen ' s Trades' Hall , the lecturer siid he had met with many who , under their fustian jackets , possessed hearts that he would pit a ^ ai ^ st the world . ( Hear . ) Tb . re are , u is computed , a million and a half of persons in « he metropolis , of which twotbArdsare engaged iu the production of the wants ,
comforts , and luxuries of life ; yet they are dispersed wiihoui a buiidiug or their gwn , iu which they may confer tocher for mutual protection . ( Hear . ) Oiher classes hare stolon a march upon us in this respect , and had erected splendid edifices for their own especial benefit a . ud eujojfijent , Tiitre was th < - Tra-Tehers ' , the Naval and Aixlinry , the United Service , llie Reform , and a dozen other " Union " club-houses , all built by tbe working classes for their so-csll-sd superiors ; jes though there were Union club-houses for the rich , snd Union poorhouses for the poor , the working classes have no nnion for themselves . ( Cheers . ) The productive class Has been cslkd , very appropriatciy , the sinews of the country ; but iu the Way physical , the sinews
were allow ? a freedom in their aciioc , or ill health and prosiiav . on o ' ' strength ensued : ? o yi tbe body political , Koieis the workiDg cla&sts , the rea } sinews of society , were allowed freedom of ucii"ii , a diseased state is the re ^ uk . ( Hear ., hear . ) There are , in London , 114 trades of the working d&ss , exclusive of those peculiar to the female sex ; each of the = e has its own Trade Society , called into action by a natural feeling of selfishness , taking the guise of self-protection : yet no room in the metropolis would cor > iiin the whole of the members of scarcely » ay one of the Societies , so that they ar « divided inu > lodges or distri&s . Thus the Fnendly Society of Operative Carpenters is divided into sixteen lodges , th > - Bricklayers into five , tbe Manchester
Unity ot Engineers into four , sad so on ; and when any basic-ess aifVcting the body at lar ^ e is to be transacted , it is performed by delegates a ^ d deputations frc m one lodge 10 the rest . Now , a Trades' Hall wouid obviate this inconvenience , not to cull it by a stronger term ; for , instead of having to stop at a pubiic-house , sper . d ' . irg money and time , incurring domestic cispie-s . -irrt ? , and anxisty at home , and losing character in tbe e ? tima . tiun of the employer , by the loss of a quaru-r of a day , w ; ih an aching hesd " , and tremulous nerves , consequent upon remain : c # till twelve , or perhaps one o ' c ' ock , at these place-, the members of the vari-us trades mi ^ ht mte ' ' , in a Trades' Iiail , with cool heads and calm judgments ,
when they had business to discuss ; acd , when they xnec for conviriaiity , bring their wives and families to participate in their enjoyments . ( Load cheers . ) Societies nad feit other inconveniences of meeting in public-houses , than those of their members being in » a : ate in which they might be said to- be "licensed to be drunk on tbe premises ; " for so many attended to the business of drinking and smoking , instead o * . that whicn they had assembled to consider , thai i ; afforded an opportunity to a few desi # uin . ;>; men to govern the whoie society , which was the great political error of the day , The allowing ; he few to rule the many . ( Hear . ) " No wonder that the moral character of the working classes should thus suffer in tho estimation of the other classes , who
ire not obliged to transact their business in publichouses ; i / they would but coatribut-e a vtry small pcriiou of what they formerly lavished on their ** strikes , " they might erect their Trades' Hall , in % central part of the metropolis , as a solid emblem of their union . Before the agitation of this question , they had heard nothing of " moving an humble address to the Queen to allow tbe Parliament to grant a sum of money , out of the public purse , for the erection of a Trades' Hall . " . No , no ! You must build this Hall yourselves ( said iir . Farren ) , or you cannot exercise that freedom of opinion within iis " walls , mat you have a right at all times to express ; aid when you have buil ; it , tako care that it does cot get mortgaged into the hands of gome great capitalist ; or , in the language of Poor Richard : —
" -Get what you can , and whit you get hold ; * Tis thestone th »; will turn all yaur gain into gold . " Mr . Farren then made some judicious observations on tbe present system of driving the children of working men to seek amusement at places where debauchery and demoralisation are the inevitable consequences ; pointing to a Trades' Hall as the easy , immediate , and effectual remedy for jnaay of the eri ! s under which the working closes no . v labeur , while it would aLo be the means of enabling them to concentrate their strength for the abolition of all unjust laws and political grievances that they might sn 5 er under . Tbe lecturer w& 3 loudly applauded at the conclusion ; and a Tote of thanks to himself and the Chairman having been passed , the meeting adjourned for a week .
Bow-stkext , this pat . —Mrs . Ann Dalton , and her niece , Catharine Harrigan , the latter servant in the hor .= « of the Rev . L ) r . B aldaconi , priest of the Sardinian chapel , Liccdln ' s-inn-Sddi , were ihii afternoon re-examined on a charge of robbing the R-v . Gentleman cf a quantity of plate , linen , jeweller ? , &c , when they were both fully comaittei to N « swgatc for trial . Their first examination took place on Saturday , wlien tbe aant was aimitted to bail . The case has excited considerable - sensation , on account of the respectable situation of the prisoners , and the extent of their depredations . The elder prisoner has had a legacy of £ 500 iefi her siv . ee her apprehension on Saturday ; and wfcea asked what they had to say in reply to the charge , the elder prisoner replied th&t she had means to restore everything , if the prosecution were not pres .-ed ; but the magistrate ( ilr . Hall ) bound OTex the witnesses to prosecute . The prisoners were most elegantly dressed .
The Clerke >~ well Natiosal Chabteb Association have been compelled to close their lecture room on Monday evenings , for the present , the expences having latterly exceeded the income . Destructive Fire . —Shortly before one o ' clock this m ' -Tiiicg , the premises of Mr . Strait , haberdasher , at the corner of Portland-street , Commercial Road East , was discovered to be on fire , and . in a very short , time the bonse was in one body of flimes . Two persons were with great diSeahyjjot oat of the second floor window . Several engines were quickly on the spot , and , although every possible exertion was used by the firemen , it was not until four o ' clock that tho fire was got under , the house being completely gutted . The cause of the Ore is at present unknown . The stock of furniture tras insured in the Alliance , and the premises in Sfcs Phcenix .
Fbightfcl AcaDsxr . —Yesterday afternoon , a fine little boy , named John Ware , aged six years , the son of a widow residing at Charleston , near Woolwich , Kent , met with the following frightful accident : —The poor little fellow was on his road to school , and , being rather late , he got up behind a ran to have a ride , and , in the a « t of getting down , both his legs got entariglsd in the spokes of the Dear hind wheel , aod , me ancholy to relate , before the driver could stop the horse , both his thigh 3 were fractured . No time was lost in conveying the sufferer , in a light chaise cart , to St . Thomas's Hospital , where he is doing as well as can possibly be expected .
Fatal Accident . —This memine an inquest was held before Mr . Biker , at the London Hospital , Miie-end-road , on view of the body of William Moore , aged forty-fire years . It appeared from tbe eridenee that the deceased was a coal dealer , and while riding on his van , on the 18 th ult ., and when opposite the Flower Pot , in Bishopg&te-street , the borse made a stumble , which threw aim off , and the ¦ wheels passed over his left leg and ancle . He was immediately conveyed to tbe aboye hospital , where he lingered until Monday morning , when he expired , ilr . Seppinga , the surgeon , stated that the life of the unfortunate mas might have been saved tad he submitted w the leg being amputated . Ter--4 ict , " Accidental death , "
Fat . ** . Accibkwt at Loitdoh Bbidgr , —This afteraoon &e inquest was held before W . Payne , Esq ., Coroner for the city , at the Swan public-bouse , Tfeamet-BtVeet , on view of the body of £ mma Orred , ft fine little * girl , aged thirteen years . It appeared fr * a tlse eo 4 enee that , on the previous afternoon , ik « deooued * " playing on the steps on the west « ide » f Lontoti Bridge , when she rolled into the rrrer . An zIii . ti w * s instantly gives , and in less than te » minnt « r the body was got out and con-TBjed to the above h * use , and Dr . Croft , of Fishstreet Hill , rendert "d every effort in hiB power , for ne hour and a half , to restore animation without Kiccees . Verdict , " A icidental death , "
ExTBAOSDnuET Diskatch . —The report of the inquest at Harrow , on tbe bodies of the two unfortunate men who were killed » n the London and Birmingham Railway , which a ^ peared in our journal of Saturday week- did not le . we London until eight o ' clock on Thursday night , waJ < set up and the paper in London by ten o ' clock on Satufday morning , the distance being four hundred mile **
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KEP-jaTFD Expl ^ sio > - of a Powder Mill . —An exiraorrfi- 'ary seiissfon was created throughout the metropolis this morning , in r . onsequence of its being currently reported that a large powder mill , at Dartford , hid exploded ; but on making inquiry at the office , in the city , it was found that the report was without found .
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^» Sig . ns of the Timks . —A correspondent writos us thus : — " An advertisement appeared on Saturday , in the Leeds Mercury , from Mr . Shepherd , of Wakefield House of Correction , for an iudiTidaal to officiate as keeper or turnkey , wbo 3 e salary was to be a guinea a week , &c . On Monday , & person of my acquaintance was taken from Leeds and recommended by an influential friend , when he was told that there had been 500 applications b « fore hiB , and many of these from parties whom few would imagine could condescend to fill Each an effi . ee ; but such is the state of trade , scores are ready to give up their loosing concerns for anything certain , however apparently degrading . Alas , poor oountry ! almost ashamed to know itself . "
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THE CHART E R , THE WHOLE CHARTER AND NOTHING BUT THE CHARTER , We are now in the fifth month of the recruiting season , and , as yet , not a single demonstration in honour of the old corps has taken place . Who wonld have thought , after the violent language , the note of preparation , the gauntlet of defiance , the thunder of the cheap food and masquerade press , towards tbe close of the last Session , that the " Breid Tax" and the «* Ballot" would have been all owed to slumber in quiet upon the very back shelf of the Reform archives ] I Must not the soberminded politician come to the conclusion that tbe
veterans in the Whig army have been dipped in the river Lethe , whereby oblivion has come o ' er old opinions and protestations . Indeed , never was there a season so transcendantly auspicious for playing Whig pranks as the present ; while the leaders of Chartism , that only restless spirit , have been removed from the scene of action , and all the ready means of oppression and intimidation , by starvation and brute force , have been amply supplied by the aid of the out Tories to the "Destructives , " their friends in office , for the suppression of popular sentiment . Have we not then a right to address
the factious in the langnage of exultation , and to Kay " Where is your victory , or where are even your forces , flashed with conquest , and where your strength foT the next campaign with tbe defeated foe ! You have had laws of your own making ; men of your own appointment to administer them ; juries of your own selection to decide upon them ; an executive of your own choice to soe their unrelated and unprecedented rigour put in full force ; bastiles of your own choosing to hold the mute victims in durance vile ; creatures of your own nomination , to offer the consolation of visiting justice *; prison rules of your own manufacture to mete out felon ' s
fare to simple misdemeanants ; bonds in unmeasured and unequalled sums , as fetters for tho enlarged maniacs , to hold them still in trammels , after the full vengeance of the law has been taken upon them . To thase you have added insult , ignominy , and reproach , and , behold ! you tretable beneath tbe spirit which even incarcerated patriotism has assigned to those yet free . Aye , the very spirit of Chartism is an overmatch for the united power of rampant Whig and Tory audacity . You would dazxle us with promise , feed us with hope , and lull us into security cnee more with fair profession ; bnt do you not see , or have you yet to learn the fact , that a people so oft deceived , are resolved to trust no more but in themselves \
Seeing that we are not longer to be led blindfold ; finding that you cannot again play blindman ' s buff with the people—yeu have taxed your ingenuity for some new devise , in order still to hold the reins of public opinion . You have ruined our Constitution ; you have made a Hunchback of the State ; you have deformed every feature ; you have allowed tumours , excrescences , and wens to cover the body , while you have crippled the limbs which should bear it 3 burden ; and now , what would be yow remedy for all these chronic disorder brought ' on by your own
dissipations ! Why , instead of removing the disease , you would allow the Law Church to remain as a hunch upon one shoulder ; your war debt upon the other ; and your standing army to support both , as an incubus upon oar back , between them ; and then you would strain fancy by puzzling imagination to fiud out the supporters of things as they would then be . You would throw the Billot as a folding cloak over our deformed shoulders to hide the bumps , and huge Cossack trousers over our bandy legs , to hide their yielding under their burden ; our only consolation being that we still carried the same load , but
knew not who wa 3 for perpetuating , and who for removing it . You would repeal the Corn Laws , and that alone , of all the promised measures of relief , would you carry ; and you would be thereby enabled to live in luxury , while the people woald 3 tarve in a cook-shop , in the midst of plenty , with a surplus population , whose grievances , by their iaabilty to live in the ameliorated state of society , wcuid be a hundred fold augmented . You would strap them like Tantalus to the plank over the refreshing stream , while the flowing waters would be ever out of their reach .
You would play sliuttle-cock with the several institutions and blindman ' s buff with the nation . You would , under the rose , so balance your forces by " unavoidable absence" or sickness , or open villauy , as to heat the iron , so that ail may hold it . The agricultural interest would tickle the manufacturing interest , and the manufacturing interest would tickle the landed interest , and both would tickle the monied interest , and amongst all you would laugh the nation out of its wits . These things you would do , for in your souls you know that e ^ ch abuse is a key-stone in corruption's bridge , and that you cannot remove
one without bringing the whole to rain , and erecting the Charter upon the site . And are you for such a state of things ? And is the Ballot intended to produce ill No , the Ballot is to perpetuate , in disguise , the enormities which the people , in their dayB of ignorance , blindness , and weakness , allowed you to accomplish with open eyes . Let us ask one simple question . For whose benefit are institutions and governments formed , whether for the nation or a faction \ and if for the nation , who but knaves will seek to legislate with tkeir own eyes open for a blindfold community 1 Is the li allot to
allow good men an opportunity of doing good , or bad men an opportunity of doing mischief ? and with the Ballot , what becomes of the great W hi # principle , so loudly vaunted in 1832 , of placing the institutions of the country under vigilant popular contronl . We now find that the wholesome dread of public opinion sometimes imposes the necessity of affected liberality ; while the passion of evil still lurks in the soul , and only requires yoar disguise to give to it the power of indulgence . Would the Ballot dtE ^ roy the Lvw Chnrch , 'without substituting another in ita stead ? Would the Ballot destroy the national burden of eight hundred millions of public plunder ! Would the Ballot disband our enormous » rsjy ! Wonld the ballot repeal the Poor X » vr
Amendment Act t Would the Ballot give equal protestion to the rich and the poor , to the blind and those with open eyes ! Wonld the Ballot curtail the enormous aad useless expenditure of drones in the several departments ! Would the Billot impose upon tho * e who were elected under it 3 influence , the trouble , annoyance , and " confounded b * ret" of settling , yearly , accounts even with their own constituents ! If the Ballot would not do those things , we don't require it ; and , if it wonld do those things in the dark , we fay , ss plain , strafgb ' . forward Englishmen , if tbe accomplishment of those things is really your intention , then can we give you the means of performance , and means which are much more easy of attainment—the Charter . Thus you may do in
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open day tho very things which you claim the darkn& js of niftht to perform . So in no case do we want t ' ae Ballot , as a substantive measure . It mustbe borne in mind by our friends that our visits are , like those of angels , "few and far between , " and that we shall not have more than about eight opportunities of addressing them before the destructive physical-force party meet again for the next year ' s baoL The most , therefor * , should be made of the intervening time . Tbe old backs are dead beat , and any coalition with the Tories must terminate in our triumph , and in the ruin of
Whiggery . We were never half so strong . Up to the very last charge tbe people , so often and so fatally deceived by their leaderB , fought with halters around their necks ; all was distrust , all was doubt , but now these greatest foes to freedom and obtacles to union and combination have been removed , for never in . the annals of any country have leaders borne unjust , unmerciful , unparalleled , persecution , as have the Chartist leadecs now Buffering under a reforming Government . We defy any man from history to furnish us with any instance of men bearing torture and hurling defiance at the
oppressor from tbe cold dungeon , aa we find the men now imprisoned for freedom ' s sake , bearing and defying . The nation has not even yet , nor will not till after New Year ' s Day , have seen , with open eyes and calm reflection , its own cowardice in submitting to a violation of all law , all precedent , practice , and rale , for the mere purpose of wounding the whole through the 6 ides of the most daring . In no country but England would such a Btain be allowed for a month to exist , and yet we fiud » people , who have not the power , or who will not exercise tho power , of redressing their own wrongs ; a people who
are constrained to support , by their own subscriptions , the families of their martyrs , without any , the slightest , assistance from those who claim their co-operatioa to serve them , we find those people courted by the very oppressors , and their aid sought for—what 1 Not for popular good ! Can it b 8 for popular good , having done so much popular injustice 1 No ; but actually to accomplish the very thing which the martyrs are incarcerated for opposing , namely , the establishment of some crotchet upon the ruins of Universal Suffrage . Let u 3 never be mistaken in our aim , our end , and our
object , which is to mature and prepare the public mind for that great change , which invention , improvement , aad machinery have brought about , and so to organise the moral functions , as that no opposing force , whethor it be moral or physical , shall again turn a supposed triumph into auual defeat . We must have tho change , but we must have tho matured understanding , the thorough organization , the accredited substitute , ready to supply the place of the departed body of corruption , eise will treachery , trick , and fraud supply it for us , while we aro exhausting our strength upon matters which should have been matured in the outset .
Let economists , philosophers , philanthropists , and humanity-mongers talk as they please , but we tell our readers , that speculation , « amblinsambition , unbridled lust , and all the evil passions of the rich , are pressing too hardly upon the means intended by nature for the support of the poor , and our surplus population is now too large to be provided for from any one of the Whig coverdiBhes ; and that the numerous family of surplus population paupers require the whole joint to be placed on the national table^—the Charter ! Let those who call us destructives
believe in our sincerity , when we affirm that no power under Heaven , and no force upon earth , can otherwise provide for the ravages made in old institutions by new inventions . We have said , and said , and said , and we again repeat it , that when the querulous , the unemployed , and the " restless , " as they are called , constitute a majority , or a large minority , then must all moral , physical , and stop-gap force yield to the cry of despair , the clamour of the hungry , and the vengeance of the despised . Our efforts are to etop the horrors likely to result from such a state of things , and to obviate
their occurrence , by yielding , in time , to justice , what must in tho end be surrendered to necessity and force . We tell our readers that at no period of our political career did we bo forcibly feel the responsibility of our and their position . We will not flinch—they must not budge ; no , rather than compromise a point , or retreat an hair ' s breadth , we prefer to cut all compromises and retreat from under our feet . Let these two things , then , be borne in mind . Firstly , —That the Whigs , even the timid ones , said they would join the Chartists if they gave up the notion of physical force ; and let it be borne
in mind , that for now thirteen months , through the most unparalleled distress , the most excited state of public mind occasioned by the illegal expatriation of Frost , Williams , and Jones , and the incarceration of their oldest , dearest , beat , and most beloved friends—that during that whole period , and amid such trying circumstances , there has not been a single violation of the law , nor , so far aa we have the means of knowing , a single violent article in a Chartist paper , nor a single physical-force speech made at a Chartist meeting ; and yet , where are our timid .
or even our boldest Whig friends ? Let that be answered , if it can be answered . And , again ; surely , what was denied to threat should have been yielded to justice and humanity ; yet do wo find the peaceful Chartists compelled by the moral-force Whigs to support the families of the " misguided , " as they have been called . Well , if miEguided , why allow the innocent wives and families to suffer ! Behold the physical force which they drea * more than common musket and swords , which they know we have not J Make ready ! present ! fie Charter ! charter ! CHARTER ! There ' B the volley of physical force that wounds them . In conclusion , let our fritnds be assured that the wolves are abroad , that coercion is being prepared , and that
it must be met . Let them road the signs of the times , and in them read their own strength . Let them bear in mind , that royal marriages and royal births were wont to confer liberty upon the imprisoned political offenders ; but now , both having taken place within the year , we find no such royal concesson ;—and why * because your leaders are too good , too valiant , too honest to be trusted at large by tyrants . If your cause and they were contemptible , all boons would be granted ; for euch are in general the objects of royal clemency , while dreaded greatness and unpurchaseable integrity are allowed to pine unheeded by royal grace , and unpitied by royal panderers . But , onward . ' and Universal Suffrage will warm when the royal breath refuses its genial glow .
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almost before tlie ligament is out , the little squalling embryo bit of humanity is saluted as her Royal Highness ! - " It ia quite a different tking to feel glad at the safety of a mother and her child , and to join In all the tomfooleries that are enacted upon this occasionit is rather a different thing to be glad to hear that the little , senseless , squalling thing is alive and kicking , and to feel a sudden idolatrous reverence for the little bundle of lively vivified jelly , and to address its unconscious littleness by the name of her Royal Highness .
" The infant Princess is well I Her Royal Highnesa ' a exploits , hitherto , have hardly been commensurate in dignity with the length of her title . Her Royal Highness first made herself known to the grave and noble individuals who , as members of her Majesty's Privy Council , weie -waiting in an ante-chamber with uppricked ears , and with jorums of caudle cooling before them—she first made herself known , we say , to these persons by a short and sharp cry , caused , it is said , by the coldness of the new world into which Bhe had just arrived , and by the impertinent attentions of the nurse , who insisted upon wrapping her Royal HighnesJ up in her swaddling clothes , whether she would or no .
"After this , it is said that her Royal Highness was brought into the Privy Council chamber and placed upon the table , where she conducted herself in & manner especiall y-incongruous , kicking with very great pertinacity , and squalling very loudly , not to say anything of other instances of undignified conduct , which wero more than suspected by some of the Lords of the Privy Council present , although one of them , more a courtier than the rest , said that this was a singular instance of Koyal precocity , and intended as a hint to the Privy Council , that although She could not speak to them , uh © knew very -well in what assembly she was .
" TIiq course of humbug ; is now begun , and it will rather increase than diminish . As so » n as tho month is past , we shall have churchings and christenings , and illuminations and long gazettes , and special ambassadors with messages of congratulation , and half the ohc-eseruongera in the country coming up to Buckingham Palace to kiss away at the Queen's hand , and take tbeir chaine of getting knigkted . Rare doings no doubt there will be , and John Bull will be tickled and made to staro and shout and get drunk , and the farce will eni ! aa usual , by his having his pocket picked .
" We would just remind Johnny , however , that there ate liner nab in the sea than have yet come out of itthua we believe the old proverb runs—and that the present little girl is , atter all , nearly au unlikely ever to come to the throne as Ernest of Hanover himself is . The little Queen has begun exceedingly early , and she is likuly to go on as she has begun ; bo that in another ten mouths this little Vic the Second will be likely to have her nose put out of joint by a thumping boy , and then there must be new Privy Couucils , and new
illuminations , and new drawings of the purse-strings . Leigh Hunt , who seems to have taken upon himself the place vacated by Southey , snd to have become amateur poet-laureate , prognosticates that there will be twenty of them . What sources of information he may have , we cannot tell ; but we hope he may be mistaken . For our own parts , we shall bo quite content with another , jaat to make assurance doubly sure with respoct to the demon of Hanover ; after that , we should be glad to square accounts , and to cry , Oliejam satis est .
" This prospect of a large family is rather awkward news for John Bull ; for if ttio Queen should happen to have twenty children , there is no good reason why they should not have twenty a-piece , so that in half a century Johnny ' s Princes and Princess Koyal might be a large part of his population , and at £ 2 u , 000 a-year a-piece would eat him fairly out of house and home . " This bold and manly style of writing does great credit to the Satirist , and would accord well with a vehicle of general information of a much higher
character than the coarse jokes , double entendres , aud close approximations to obscenity which constantly pollute its columns , but which , though we feel quite certain that they are anything but palatable to ltd Editor , are absolutely necessary , as the only kind of gliding , by which the " respectable , educated , and pious" parties , who support it , " the middle and higher classes , " can be induced to sfvallow so disagreeable a pill as tho stern , manly truth which forms the staple of auck loading articles as that wo have quoted .
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MR . ROBERT LoWERY , THE FRENCH PEOPLE , AND THE " NORTHERN LIBERATOR , " ON THE WAR QUESTION . Mr . Robert Lowert , who is on a Palmerston mission at Paris , has written a letter to A ? r . John Binms , of Sundorlanu , which was published in the Northern Liberator of last week , and in which he de 3 cribtsa tho views and feelings of the French people , so far as he has been able to discover them , to be of a decidedly pacific character in regard to tho people of England , but full of resentment against tue Government of England . Ho says : —
" Every one whom I havo spoken to has expressed great pleasure at the sentiments and feelings I was deputed to express to the people of Franco . Their ardent desire set-ms to be , to continue in peace with England as a friend , being conscious that the destinies of both countries are one and the same . * * Messieurs Beaumont , Tucqueville , and others , assured me they saw these things , but what could they do ? The acts of our Government still go on , and they must either oppose us or 6 uffer injury , insult , and humiliation . " Ho represents the French , or such portiun of them as he has come in contact with , as being perfectly satisfied , as well as himself and his friends , of the treachery of Lord Palmerston , and he says : —
" The people here say that the men of England should speak out and dissever themselves from the acts of the Government , and save their country from this war , by their firm resistance to the Treaty of July . " Mr . Lowert agrees perfectly with his Franch friends in this opinion , and calls loudly upon the working men of England and Scotland to speak out with a voice of thunder against the determined efforts of the Government to involve them in a war with France . Our Northern friend inserts Mr . Lowery ' s letter , but with a note of protest against its pacific character . He
asks" Why will not Mr . Lowery , and those with whom he is acting , distinguish between a war by France against the infamous English Government , and s war against the right-hearted English people ? A declaration of war against England by France , would not be regarded by the people of England as a declaration of hostilities against them , but as a declaration of war against their hated and hateful Government , and its villanotis system . They would regard it as a war against the Jews , jobbers , fundhalders , pensioners , sinecurists , and police spies ; and in such a declaration they would , aa men of sense , rejoice to the very bottom of their souls . "
Now , this would be all very fine , and the people of England would have great reason to rejoice "from the very bottom of their souls" at the fact of a declaration of war by France against England , if the said war of England against France were to be carried on by the members of the " hated and hateful Government , the Jews , jobbers , flandholders * pensioners , sinecurists , and police spies" in their own persons , and if they were to abide all the mischief , as well as to reap all the honour and renown that might appertain to it ; but all history testifies that
the experience of mankind has always been of the reverse of this position ; that in all wara the credit , the pay , and tho prize-money have beeu monopolised ; the credit and tho profit having been claimed entirely by these parties , while the brunt of actual fighting , and all the disagreeables connected with it , has been borne by the working people . The Liberator has shown no reason why we should expect a war with France , just now , to be conducted differently from what all other wars have been ; and we must , therefore , still believe , and we beg tho people never to forget , that in case of Buch a -war , whatever might become of the Jews , jobbers , and placemen , the
bullets and the shells , the "long billets in cold quarters , " the mangled limbs , the broken hearts , the widowed wives , and wailing children , would bo most plentifully shared , as usual , among the working people , from whose ranks are furnished the animate machines who do the devilry cut out for them by the slinking rascals upon whom the Liberator affirms all the misfortunes of the war would fall . Let the people make themselves quite sure that there can he no fighting without their getting all the blows , and that all the frightful catalogue of sufferings , physical , mental , moral , and social , which are inseparable from the horrid trade would constitute solely and entirely their share thereof .
Upon this part of the subject we hare a valuable illustration in the following extract from a letter , written by an officer belonging to the Thunderer , now engaged in the Asiatic war , to his brother in London , describing he recent taking of Sidon : —
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" I went through tbe town on tho following morning , and witnessed a most deplorable spectacle : dead bodies lying in the streets covered with blood , and flies in myriads around them ; wounded , men groaning in agony , houses and shops deserted ) doors and , windows battered in , immense holes in tbe walls from the shot and shells of the ships , rubbish and stones lying in the streets , articles of mercbanchise ( chiefly tobacco ) strewed abont , and swords and muskets in every quarter . The smell was sickening . Now , however , everything is quiet ; the inhabitants hare returned to their shattered abodes , shops are open , the dead bodies have been removed to the grave , and the wounded to the hospital . I visited the hospital , and the scene presented there was of the most dreadful description . "
Now this is a case decidedly in point . The wax in this case is not against the people of Syria , but against their Government—as indeed all wars are . But who are tbe sufferers by it ! the Government or the people ! So again in the taking of Acre , of which we have the following account from a
witness : — " We commenced the action abont two o'clock , and about four the most terrific explosion that could be imagined took place on shore . One of their magazines , containing 500 barrels of powder , blew up , over which were stationed 2 , 000 soldiers , the whole of whom were tonrieuin the ruins , which coveted a space of one acre , Many women and children were also killed by the explosion . By six o'clock we drove them from all their guns except two or three . At sunset we ceaaod firing , and the batteries also stopped their fire . We then hauled off into deep water for the night . At twelve o ' clock a boat came off from the shore to say that the troops were evacuating the town , and a force was immediately sent ashore and possession taken , scarcely a shot having been fired on landing .
" November 6 . —I went on shore yesterday to see the effects of our shot , and I conld hardly believe that such destruction conld have been made in so short a period . I walked along the ramparts , and observed the dead bodies lying by the guns , some with their heads off , and others with part of their bodies shot away . Some of the guns were dismounted , and others were rendered useless by the breastwork falling upon them . I saw one 84-pounder burst , and lying in two halves . Every place seems to have experienced the effects of our shot ;
but the ruins of the magazine were the most dreadful Bight that the mind could imagine . The Turks , and Egyptians in the Turkish service , were busy pulling the dead bodies from the rubbish , and possessing themselves of every article of clothing which better suited their taste than their own . One cannot walk her © without treading upon the dead bodies ; and everywhere amongst the rubbish you observe hands and feet exposed , the rest of the body being hid by the ruins . The cattle had shared the same fate as their owners , and are to be seen lying dead in every street "
And are these the blessings to which the Liberator would introduce the people of England , by way of punishing the Jews , jobbers , and placemen ?! We grieve to see the Liberator , whom we believe to be sincerely honest in the advocacy of democratic principles , thus cling tenaciously to the destructive notion , that the progress and establishment of those principles would not be seriously retarded by that greatest of all national
calamitiesa war . With singular modesty our friend continues , alluding to the parties who are said to act with Mr . Lowery : — " They know , and Mr . Lowery ought to know , for he has read the Liberator , that such a war as this would , in a few months , blow the whole system , funds , paper money , Jews , fundholders , pensioners , and all together into the air ; and tbe end would be the liberation of the English people from the chains that now bind them , and a speedy alliance with France in defence of their newly acquired liberties . "
Now , it is precisely because we have read the Liberator , that we feel well assured that Mr . LowEEY . and its other readers , may have all learned from it , that , enjoying the monopoly of law-making , the Jews , jobbers , and placemen would be able , by resorting to a- fictitious and depreciated currency , or by other resources equally dishonest and accordant with their nature , to keep up au unnatural state of things for some time ; so as , by hook or by crook , to pull us through the war ; of which they would be making , through tho medium of commissions and a thousand other channels , a continual advantage while it lasted , and at the close thereof to leave all the terrible weight of the re-action to be borne upon the shoulders of the people .
We are glad , however , to perceive proof in this , note of oar friend , the Liberator ' s , upon Lowery's letter , that our conviction of his honesty was rightly founded . He proceeds , in reference to his own previous assertions , to say : — " This is the true view of this question , and wo shall next week address a letter to Mr Lowery , in which we shall give the Most irrefragable proof of this , and put it into Mr . Lowery's power , if he will , to show the French people the real position in which we are , and What THKY MAY DO . if THEY Will it "
We are glad of this , for we were most anxious to see our friend ' s reasons for his singular opinion . Ever wishful to correct our own imperfect judgment by more grave authority , and most anxious as we are to be quite right upon a point of such momentous import , we shall await the promised enlightenment of our Northern friend with some impatience .
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THE PEOPLE AND THE FACTION MEETINGS . In our last we laid down a plan of operations whereby the people might , in all cases , successfully fight and beat the enemy with their own weapons . Our present paper contains demonstrations of the necessity for this mode of developing the people's energies , in the accounts of the respective Queen '? babby meetingsat Brighton and Bristol . On both these occasions the people attsmp ' . ed to upset the humbugs , aud succeeded bat partially in doing bo ; and simply for want of that previous arrangement and
organisation which we recommended to them in that article . It seems , howover , that the faction-masters , deeply imbued with the cunning of their arch progenitor , hit on the expedient of eviting a total rout , by false pretences ; calling their meetings " public " , but taking care to hold them at such hours as they knew would render the attendance of the public all but impossible . This , too , like every other scoundrel scbeme , may bedefeated by the people , by the exhibition of temper and timely organisation . In
all such cases hereafter , no matter what the time of day , let the working bees swarm , and if they have but brains and honesty enough to stand one by another they may prevent even pecuniary loss from being inflicted upon them as the result of their patriotism . This course of action , if well carried out , will strike more terror into the ranks of the factions than any other . Pleasing evidence of this is already afforded by the " Establishment" in reference to these meetings . A Whig paper says , speaking of tho Brighton meeting : —
"There is much in this meeting to excite attention . It is becoming manifest that no publit meeting can he held but that the Chartists will be there , " - ~ - —— . — ¦ - —— --. ' -, —^ g ^ fci ^ if .-. - - -. - , .
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MR . SHARMAN CRAWFORD , ** THE MORNING CHRONICLE , " AND THE " NORTHERN STAR . " From our second edition of last week , our friends will have learned the result of Mr . Sharman Crawfoed ' s visit to Rochdale , the borough which has distinguished itself by his adoption . It will be in the recollection of our readers that in commenting upon a Reform Association lately established at
Belfast , aad in the establishment of which Mr . Cbawfobd took a conspicuous part , we dealt , as we thought , fairly and justly with the sentimenta attributed to him by the Miming Chronicle , u expressed at the meeting , not supposing that even a Whig journal would dare so completely to misrepresent a speaker most easily followed and reported . We were mistaken , however , as it appears from Mr . Crawford ' s word , which we believe in preference to the Chronicle .
In our comment we gave the speech as we stated , at full length . Taking the speech , as reported in the Chronicle , as a whole , we denounced it in no very measured terms , and we are free to confess that our denunciation was the stronger in consequence , not of our dislike of , but in consequence of our regard for , and consequent disappointment in , Mr . Crawford . Mr . Crawford has , however , selected for observation and contradiction , the very passages in his speeoh , as reported in the
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Chronicle , to which we took exception , thereby fullj establishing the justice of our reproach . But what can be , what ought to be , a more pleasing aud gratifying duty than that of one honourable man making the amende to another honourable man , when made conscious of his mistake ! This is our case , and we experience a double joy , first , in having been the medium of Mr . Crawford ' s explanation , and , secondly , in having been ourselves undeceived . We pin our faith to no man ' s sleeve ; bat we take away no man ' s character without trial Had we allowed the objectionable passages in Mr
Crawford ' s speech to pass unnoticed , and BtU } continued to recommend him to the good people of Rochdale , we might have been charged , and jnstly , if they were disappointed in Mr . Crawfohd , with having withheld from them his real sentiments elsewhere expressed ! Had Mr . Chawfokk wearied criticism , and become an outlaw in the court of rebuke , we should have passed him by with that silent contempt with which we treat the fiend who has made Ireland no harbour for honesty like Mr . Crawford ' s ; but it was because we felt * orely , that we wrote strongly , and Mr Sharman Crawford does us no morethau justice when he says that we would not intentionally misrepresent him . We would not ; we did not ; we
would scorn it ; and he will take our assurance that we have much more pleasure in setting ourselves aud him right with the public , than we had in unintentionally damaging him , from perhaps a foolish reliance upon the accuracy of a paper devoted to the interests of a lyiag faction . Our apology should be to our readers for having accused any man of good character upon such evidence . Our readers will further bear in mind that we gave it as our opinion , that Mr . Crawford was the only safe standard for honest opinions to rally round ; and , believing so , what must have been our chagrin at seeing euch sentimentB attributed to him , differing , as they did , toto ccelo , from those which , with our own ears , we had heard from his lips !
Aa to Mr . O'Connor ' s disinclination to injure Mr . Crawford , we can assure Mr . C . fhat we have many times heard Mr . O'Connor declare that to Mr . Crawford he looked for the restoration of the public mind in Ireland , from that abyss of misconception and ignorance into which O'ConNeix has cast it ; and we think we may say for him further , that no one circumstance could possibly afford him greater pleasure than to be able to retain that high opinion which we believe he entertains of Mr . Crawford .
If Mr . Crawford had not disavowed the sentiments attributed to him in tho Chronicle , we-should have felt it a paramount duty to oppose him to the utmost at Rochdale ; and we now believe that the Chronicle's report was fabricated with the intention of producing that effect . Mr . Crawford will hav » learned , however , that there is no danger in our enmity , if not based upon true conceptions . Our greatest pleasure is in portraying the virtues of honest men—that of the Chronicle ever has consisted in giving to useful vice the ascendancy over useless virtue .
What a triumph will now be that of the electors of Rochdale , when they shall have returned a man too honest to be a slave , and not too proud to defend himself before the people ! Let Ireland blush , and let the revilers of England , and the assertorsof "English prejudice , " ttake their answer from this one fact ; and learn that the only man who has dared to board the beast hi his own den , and in a white waistcoat too , and who Was above Association purchase , has been adopted by the prejudiced English Protestants , so to blend their opinions and represent their feelings as to make them brothers instead of bitter
enemies . Yes ! we shall now hear the real state of Ireland in the House of Commons ; and be it remembered that Mr . Crawford has long since declared himself an advocate for , and supporter of , O'Connor ' s five-acre plan . Here , then , will be a hew question , and the only possible refuge for the destitute , opened and supported by one of the largest landed proprietors in the kingdom . If Mr . Crawford pushes this principle into ultimate establishment , he will have done more good than all the heroes , patriots , and ministers of by-gone ages , for he will have transformed his country from a hell into a paradise .
We have only to express a hope that all hands will now be put to the work , and with a long pull , a strong pull , and a pull altogether , the good men of Rochdale will pull down that odious and infernal barrier which has been so long erected between the English and the Irish working classes ; and , we beg to express a hope that in future Mr . Crawford will direct Irish attention to the fact that the schism has been kept up for profit . Mr . Crawford shall find our columns devoted to his service ; and , unlike others who make merchandise of candidates' appeals to their constituents , he shall have no bill for our advertising services . Our columns , aa our principleSj are unpurchaseable .
Hurrah ! then , for Crawford and Rochdale ; while the twice-Jewed , and moat liberal county of Carlow is about to pass into the hands of a Ponsonbt , the oldest family of hacks in Ireland ; not one of whom would dare Bhow his nose if all were not for sale in the land of slaves . 0 , what a picture I to see the rejected of England going for shelter to poor Ireland , when even England has got too liberal for them ; and the rejected of Ireland coming to England , when Ireland has got too corrupt to hear the tongue of a honest man . We shall hail th « return of Air . Crawford for Rochdale as the omen ofa
properunderstanding bet ween the long-deceived working classes of the two countries ; and , in justice to the men of England , we must say that all the national prejudice is upon the part of the Irish , as never was there a more cordial , sincere , or friendly feeling than that entertained by the English working classes towards their oppressed Irish brethren . But they will not , and they shall not , if we can help it , stretch » hand with alms to the begging-box , neither shall they be made tools to fight the battles of the brawling sycophants who , having sold their own people , would now sell ours .
The Manchester Times , another chip of the Whig block , in attempting to give a report of the proceedings at Rochdale , would , most Whig-like , screen his brother Chronicle from the charge of mis-statement , and leave it to be inferred that the misreport complained of by Mr . Crawford was an original report of ours , never once mentioning the fact of the Chronicle ' s treachery and Mr . Crawford's complaint I Poor creatures ! they are hard run , and we don't blame them for snapping at anything and everything that comes within their grasp .
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DEFEAT OF OUR "FAVOURITE" BY THE POOR SAVAGES OF TONGA . Ik the name of justice , of honour , and humanity , when will the whole strength and dignity of man rise in religious rebellion against infidelity and fanaticism ! aud when will the supporters of aSuto Church see that they must not only provide for a domestic war establishment of Infidels , but must , after the manner of forcing other British manufactures , also convoy the colonial crusaders , not only to disturb our own peaceful subjects , but to foroo their blasphemy , at the point of the bayonet , down the throats of innocent and simple peop le , called savages for lack of a merchandize faith 1 When will ' our wooden walls be devoted to other
and more honourable purposes than acting as coavoys to poison and " contraband" faith . Behold our triumph , that is to be , over the Chinese in this our poisoning crusade ! and behold the war ee rashly commenced , but we fear not yet term inated , of «» e commercial Bible Society , against the natives of Tonga * in the South Seas ! Never was there » more bloody undertaking ; cr more inglorious defeat . If diplomatists , and state jugglers , and cabinets ol
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THE LITTLE PIECE OF ROYALTY AND THE TAX-PAYING PEOPLE . The fulsome splash and splutter which has filled the columns of the whole " Establishment" for the last fortnight is enough to turn the stomach of an oyster-gormand , and to offend the nostrils of a night-man . One might really suppose that no woman ever had a child before ; or that the birth of this one had been likely to put money into the pockets of the people 1
Amongst tie filthy tribe of snivelling slobberers we are glad to find one , the Satirist , who takes a common-sense view of the question . And we are the more pleased at this , because the Satirist , being written exclusively for " the middle and higher classes , " contains many things , continually , of which we cannot seriously approve , aud which furnish evidence , the be 3 t and strongest possible , of the depraved taste and low state of moral feeling which pervades " respectable" society . The Satirist says : —
" Since the bells have done ringing , and the guns have done firing , we may perhaps stand a cL \» nce of being heard when , in our quiet way , we make our bow and say , among the rest , that " the infant Princess is well , " "' The infant Princes 3 . ' The humbug , then , is begun—the courtly nonsense is commenced—and ,
The Northern Star. Saturday, December 5. 1840.
THE NORTHERN STAR . SATURDAY , DECEMBER 5 . 1840 .
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4 THE NORTHERN STAR .
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Dec. 5, 1840, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct358/page/4/
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